Recently, the FDA, a government organization, is beginning to take severe measures against Juul, a company that makes e-cigarettes. These measures follow a 60-day period, starting in early September, during which the FDA demanded that Juul prove its devices were not used by kids.

E-cigarettes were originally marketed as a substitute to real cigarettes in order to help addicted smokers. However, e-cigarettes still contain nicotine, which is highly addictive.

The solution inside the e-cigarettes is made up of other substances that can cause serious health problems, such as popcorn lung, an irreversible lung disease. Juul is not the only company that makes e-cigarettes, but it is the largest one, comprising approximately 70 percent of the market share according to a study by Wells Fargo.

One of the main criticisms levied against Juul is that its product’s flavors are too enticing for teenagers. Some of the flavors include mango, cucumber, crème brûlée, and fruit medley. Crème brûlée and fruit medley have already been renamed, to creme and fruit, respectively, but many feel that this is not a strong enough deterrent to stop kids from vaping. The measures being enacted address this concern, as it includes the ban of the sale of most of these flavors in retail stores and gas stations nationally, with the mint and tobacco flavors being exceptions. 

Further measures will likely follow these original ones. Last year, the FDA gave e-cigarette manufacturers five years to prove that their products were a safer alternative to regular cigarettes. With four more years still to pass before this deadline, there is plenty of time for more developments.

Other measures the FDA have considered are requiring lower levels of nicotine in cigarettes and raising the minimum age for buying tobacco products to 21. All of this is aimed at making e-cigarettes less available to those who are underage. 

A study conducted in 2015 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention showed that 25 percent of high school students had used a form of ecigarette in the past thirty days. Even though the percentage of students smoking cigarettes has significantly decreased since 2013, the tremendous wave of students beginning to use e-cigarettes has increased by over 900 percent. 

The CDC study shows that around one in four high school students in the United States as of use e-cigarettes; however, the results vary by state. The national average is 21 percent, but only 17 percent of high school students in Maine use forms of e-cigarettes compared to 31 percent of students in West Virginia. The rising trend of the use of e-cigarettes shows that the numbers would have increased tremendously over the three years since the CDC conducted this study.

To further investigate ecigarette usage within the Shipley community and compare it to national data, the Beacon Staff administered an anonymous survey during an
advisory period. The survey asked students questions such as “have you ever vaped?”, “do you know someone who vapes?” and “do you feel like there is social pressure to vape?” Although students were assured of the anonymity of the survey, the Beacon Staff still believes that the data underreports
the extent of vaping at Shipley.

Of the 354 students who replied to the survey, 40.7 percent said they had used e-cigarettes at least once in their life, with 59.3 percent saying they hadn’t. However, an overwhelming 87.9 percent of respondents said that they knew at least one person who vapes, with only 12.1 percent saying they didn’t know anyone who vapes. Of the students who said they had used e-cigarettes at least once in their life, sixty students said they had started in ninth grade, while only three said they had started in twelfth grade. 

While many blame social pressure for the rapid increase in underage vaping, the survey seems to suggest otherwise. Of all the students who replied to the survey, only fifty-nine of people, or 16.5 percent, believe that there is peer pressure to use e-cigarettes. 

The survey also suggests a disconnect between school rules surrounding vaping and state laws surrounding vaping. 96.8 percent of respondents said they were at least familiar with the school rules concerning tobacco and e-cigarette use; however, only 42.5 percent of respondents said they fully understood state laws concerning vaping. For those unaware, the state of Pennsylvania prohibits the sale of all tobacco and e-cigarette products to those under the age of eighteen. 

Finally, of those surveyed, about fifty percent knew about the new government measures concerning vaping. Of those who said they knew about the FDA measures, only nine percent believed that the FDA would succeed in preventing underage e-cigarette use. As one senior put it, “the government thinks this will stop teens from vaping; however, it will only make the problem bigger.”