Juuling, an e cigarette that contains nicotine, has become an enormously popular trend to teenagers all across America. Teenagers often think that there are no consequences to juuling because it is not associated with smoking; however, recent events have proven that juuling causes detrimental health effects.

In highschools all across the country, students sneak a hit in bathrooms or even in classrooms when the teacher is not looking. Juuling has definitely become one of the biggest issues of schools today, and will stay that way unless action is taken against it.
Because Juul has only been around for four years, cases where people have suffered from the harmful effects of juuling have not been widely acknowledged or emphasized, and many “juulers” tend to ignore these stories. However, recently, more and more occurrences regarding teenagers being diagnosed for illnesses resulting from juuling have been increasing.

In Connecticut, a man who had first began juuling in highschool had taken a puff from his juul every ten minutes which resulted in him using up two cartridges a day. After two years with his juuling habit, he suffered from a stroke that required him to have three brain surgeries, and spend more than a hundred days in the hospital.

In Wisconsin and Illinois, fourteen teenagers were hospitalized as a consequence of inhaling liquids from their juul. In Wisconsin, these teenagers were stated to have shortness of breath, fatigue, chest pain, and showed symptoms of a lung infection.

A sophomore at Cypress High School, Eunice Lee, revealed, “I see people who juul often being distracted in class because they are daydreaming about the next time they will be able to go into the bathroom and take a hit.” Not only does juuling take a hit on students’ health but also their education.

So, why are teenagers so attracted to juuling if it does not benefit them besides the fact that they are filled with nicotine? Firstly, juul pods come in different “flavors” such as mango or creme brulee, which the Center for Disease Control and Prevention has found, is a major reason why teenagers continue to juul. Secondly, juuls are easy to conceal and can be disguised as an ordinary USB unlike cigarettes which carry a distinctive look.
Thirdly, many teenagers think that juuling boosts their social status or “makes them look edgy”, which ultimately leads to a nicotine addiction. Many parents are unaware of their children vaping because they do not post it on their Instagram or Facebook account, but rather use more “lowkey” social media platforms. Snapchat and VSCO are examples of these platforms as Snapchat deletes all posts after 24 hours and allows users to make a private story where only certain people can view their posts. VSCO is a platform that is not based around connecting with others and sharing likes but rather to just to post a stream of pictures and gifs that show the “true”, “hidden” side for some teenagers.

<Rachel Hong/ Portola HS 11th>