Juuls around the world are affecting high school teens everywhere. What is juuling? Juuling is a fairly new term for vaping and has struck teenagers around the world. Although many students think that juuling is a healthier way to smoke this new product, it’s having experts investigate health risk and starting petitions to stop the chargeable cigarettes.

In 2015 the e-cigarette launched and sat in gas stations, smoke shops, and stores worldwide. Although the e-cigarette was intended to help ease away from regular cigarettes, the Juul was still packed with nicotine as their key ingredient.  After the launch in 2015 nearly two years later the Juul was named the most sold e-cigarette at the end of 2017’s summer.

Recent studies show that 1 out of 6 students are currently using Juuls, but the main question is why are so many young adults attracted to the e-cigarettes? One reason is that the portable nicotine machine is seemingly a no-see no-smell cigarette making it nearly impossible to get caught. Another reason is the Juul is shaped and built like a flash drive making it easy to be hidden by a wave of the hand.

While the device seems harmless, recent studies from Penn State University have proved otherwise. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, an addictive substance that can negatively impact adolescent brain development. One Juul pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. Side effects include increased heart rate and blood pressure, lung disease, chronic bronchitis and insulin resistance leading to type 2 diabetes. Some e-cigarettes that claim to be nicotine-free do contain the harmful substance. Studies have found toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde and an antifreeze ingredient in e-cigarettes. Almost 60 percent of people who use e-cigarettes also currently smoke conventional cigarettes, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“The vapor exhaled by e-cigarette users contains carcinogens and is a risk to nearby nonusers, just like secondhand tobacco smoke.’’

Daily use of electronic cigarettes doubles the odds of a heart attack, according to a new study led by UC San Francisco. This is the first evidence of a substantial, human health impact of the popular devices that were first introduced a couple years ago, indicating that e-cigarettes may be more dangerous than previously thought. In a new study nearly 70,000 people found have heightened heart attack risk for e-cigarettes use, which by themselves nearly triple the odds of heart attack risk when smoked daily. Together they lead to five times the non-smoking heart attack risk in those who use both conventional cigarettes and e-cigarettes every day.

Also in 2015 medical researchers came together to find out what really was in these vaping machines that electronic cigarette companies say are safer than the stick of nicotine many people are stuck on.  When taking 56 people in Baltimore who use the e-cig daily, they found that the metals you find in conventional cigarette where deep inside the aerosol particles that the vapers breathe. The same metals that are on the periodic table as Cd (cadmium) and Ni (nickel).

Federal law prohibits selling e-cigarettes to anyone under 18. In a briefing with reporters, the F.D.A. commissioner, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, said that more than two million middle and high school students were regular users of e-cigarettes last year. So, the big question is how are these kids getting Juuls? The most common way youth get the JUUL is through multiple physical retail locations. 74 percent of youth said that they obtained JUUL at a store or retail outlet. In recent weeks, the FDA issued warning letters to retailers, including gas stations, convenience stores and vape shops, for selling the product to minors. The warning in these letters obtained a message saying the FDA inspector watched a business sell the e-cigarette to a minor.

High school is the years you should enjoy with friends, sports, events, and more. As a student your mind is very vulnerable to subject to things that you shouldn’t, but as a person you should think of the long-term effects on your body before you make a decision that will consequently change your life forever.