Vaping

By Trisha Trinh

Vaping become increasingly common among middle and high school students, leading to increased smoking rates among the youth. Whether kids think vaping is cool or hip, it’s dangerous. There’s a common misconception about vaping or e-cigarettes being deemed more “healthy”. This is in fact a myth. Young people that aren’t smokers that recently start vaping will have a short-term sensation or calmness, according to Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. However, the nicotine wears off quickly, leading to the urge for another hit of it. This could slowly lead to addiction. In a 2015 launch campaign, JUUL labs were “aiming at adult smokers in the 25 to 34 demographic, featuring models from that specific age group.” JUUL are now being widely used among the youth especially in the demographic of middle school and high school students due to their different flavors of nicotine.

In schools, there have been stricter rules to prevent students from vaping or smoking. For instance, Palo Alto High School administration installed more cameras on campus and has staff patrolling usual vaping spots, according to Palo Alto Online.

“Everytime you go into the bathrooms, you are hit right away with a giant scent of vape and it’s disgusting,” expresses senior Tammy Ngo.

This epidemic of vaping spreads rapidly amongst teens that are being experimental without knowing what they’re putting into their bodies. A study done by National Institutes of Health in 2017 discovered that more than one in four high school teenagers reported vaping.

Most of the youth who vape do not even know that the attractively flavored vapor pods contains highly addictive nicotine. The same product found in regular tobacco products.

The FDA (Food and Drug Administration) last year gave e-cigarette companies and vaping companies 60 days to submit a plan to prevent the youth from vaping.  The major e-cigarettes and vaping companies succeeded in creating a label or a warning to alert of how addictive it is. Failure to do so resulted in pulling their products off the market, according to USA Today.

“Vaping has turned the youth in a widespread epidemic that needs to stop because it’s not cool,” says senior Christine Vu.