Vaping targets teens for trendy, unhealthy habit
In addition to vaping being illegal to those under the age of 21, all e-cigerettes are banned on military bases across the country.
November 5, 2018
Vaping is common among children and teens across America, partly because the sweetand colorful flavors attract youngpeople.
Vaping works by getting an herb or a liquid, that can be marijuana or tobacco, and heating it very hot until it turns into a vapor.It does not use fire or any sort offuel as regular smoking. It uses an electricity charged battery. The smoke that comes out is very different, but is still has negative effects on people’s health.
There are different types of vaping. Two of the most popular types are marijuana and nicotine vaping. These two have been found to be easily accessible to youths.
A student at Thornton High School in Daly City said, “I know that vaping is harmful for me, but I do it anyways because it helps relax me at night and helps me forget about all the hardships I go through in the day.”
Many teens see vaping as a way to relax. In 2016, a National Youth Tobacco survey showed that 1.7 million high school students had vaped in the last 30 days.
Just recently, the FDA has declared vaping an epidemic and more restrictions to prevent minors from doing it may be on the horizon. Despite the alarm that adults are raising, many teens say they will continue because they feel that it calms them down.
Vaping is getting more and and more popular because of how easily accessible it is, and the number of celebrities seen doing it influencing teens. Some teens, though, are strong enough to resist the urge to vape.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, “San Francisco- based e-cigarette company Juul dominates the vaping market, and more than 70 percent of all U.S. nicotine vape sales are of Juul products.”
On Sept. 28, the feds raided the San Francisco facility as part of an investigation into Juul’s alleged marketing campaign to minors.
As the Wall Street Journal reported, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration “conducted a surprise inspection” of Juul’sheadquarters and confiscated“over a thousand pages of documents.”
According to an FDA news release, “The inspection followed the Agency’s request for information that we issued to JUUL Labs in April for documents that would help us to better understand the reportedly high rates of youth use and the youth appeal of JUUL products, including documents related to marketing and product design.”
Juul CEO Kevin Burns issued a statement, saying, “We are committed to preventing underage use, and we want to engage with FDA, lawmakers, public health advocates and others to keep JUUL out of the hands of young people.”
A junior Riordan student said, “I have tried vaping before, but it does not appeal to me and I don’tfind it as interesting as manypeople do. I do not see the fun in it at all.”
Some teens do not find theneed to vape or smoke, but others do not think vaping is harmful, even though it has as many bad chemicals as cigarettes and other non vape tobacco products. In fact, vaping still adds many harmful chemicals to the body, as some vape juices also have nicotine, which is the addicting part.
Teens try it a few times, thinking they are going to be able to stop, but they will not be able to because of the effects of nicotine. Most adults can not even fully control their addiction.
“I can really see how people like vaping because of the namesand flavors of the juice,” a Riordansenior said, “but the toll it takes on the body is not worth tastingthe flavor.”