In a middle school sitting squarely in Dewitt, New York, Matthew Dougherty – an eighth grader at JD Middle School – was first introduced to vaping. He was taking the usual mid-day trip to the bathroom, and upon entering he witnessed four kids taking drags out of a small device of what he said resembled a flash drive. One of the boys clumsily rushed to conceal the Device, but Matt had already seen it and was quite curious. The young boys who happened to be kids he knew from class explained, telling him that it was a JUUL – a vaping device designed for smokers looking to quit cigarettes.
Matthew was more curious as to why they would want to use this “Jewel”, to which they responded, telling him how it makes your head feel like it’s “floating”. At this point Matthew was intrigued, he had never tried something like this before and he was naturally curious. So, when he was offered a “hit” of the device, he took it gladly and was finally able to understand why so many of his buddies were doing it.
“It made my head feel like it was spinning, like I was high or something, It was so cool,” he tells me.
A seventh grader getting high off of anything is concerning, just because it’s only a vape it doesn’t mean it’s any less detrimental. Drug addiction has become a nationwide epidemic due to exposure to these mind altering substances at an early age. As of late, a monumental number of young people have taken to using e-cigarettes that contain small concentrations of nicotine along with numerous other things that are dangerous to young minds. Recently, the continuous usage of e-cigarettes among many young people in our country puts teenagers at risk of harmful chemicals and nicotine addiction which can lead to the use of cigarettes and other bad substances down the line. Middle and High school students all over the country use vaping devices like the JUUL everyday.
These young people are drawn to the nicotine content within the juice that is vaporized and inhaled by the users – it’s what gives them the “head high”. In recent years, young people have given up cigarettes, instead going to the new wave – a cigarettes prettier cousin: the e-cigarette. Rachel Becker from The Verge states that in 2015 seventeen percent of middle schools students and thirty-eight percent of high school student are reported to have tried e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes have become the new fad among young people all over the country so much so that it is even considered an epidemic.
E-cigarettes were first commercially successful after being created in Beijing, China by Hon Lik, a 52 year old pharmacist, inventor and smoker. He created the device after his father, also a heavy smoker, died of lung cancer. The the electronic cigarette was introduced to United States consumers as a crutch to quit smoking – but it wouldn’t start really taking off until teens got their hands on them. In recent years, teens have begun to experiment with new ways of getting a high – one of which is nicotine consumption. E-cigarettes gained more popularity in this department than cigarettes due to the ease of making purchases as well concealability.
In a recent Surgeon General report, use by high school students has increased by 900 percent! In the 2016 National Youth Tobacco Survey 1.7 million high school students and 500,000 middle school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. In fact the use of e-cigarettes by high school students has increased by over 30% in the four years between 2011 and 2015, showcasing significant growth.
Soon after joining the school bathroom “vape sessions”, Matthew purchased his own JUUL vapor product. Within a matter of a month, Matthew’s eighth grade classmates have almost all used a vaporizer device or been around someone using one. Evan – Matthews brother – has been further subject to the use of e-cigarettes being a user himself. Not only does he use an e-cig device almost everyday, but most of his usage takes place in the school bathroom during class. Once again exemplifying the fact that the quick high gives a quick break from school, but that it easily became too much apart of his daily routine.
“Every period, there are groups of people in the bathroom using the e-cigarettes. No matter what time of day, I can walk into the bathroom, get that quick head high, then go back to class,” Evan says.
Young people are drawn to electronic cigarettes because of how easily concealable they are. Numerous e-cigarette vaporizers come in small shapes, pocketable sizes, and designs that could be disguised as everyday objects like pens or USB drives. They are also much more accessible than most other nicotine products (cigarettes, chew, etc.) in the fact that they can be ordered easily online with ease no identification required. Also, these e-cigarettes are vaporizers makes the smoke more discreet being of different flavors, making the scent easily undistinguishable. But, above all, the nicotine content that produces the glorious “head high” is what has these incorrigible teens coming back for more.
The increase in the usage of e-cigarettes among teenagers can also be accredited childhood peer pressure. When young adults at developing ages, doing things that are rebellious such as purchasing and using vapes at a young age are considered cool. So naturally, when these young minds see other people their age doing something of the sort, they want to do it to be “cool” as well. This can cause an exponential growth in the use of something like e-cigarettes among teenagers.
Young adults brain’s are continuing to grow at their age, but the nicotine use from vaping has been proven to slow down the growth of brain cells responsible for attention, impulse control, learning and addiction. With that, nicotine exposure at such young ages can very easily cause addiction since brain cells are still growing. This leads to formation of unhealthy habits, such as smoking cigarettes or chewing tobacco. Lung damage has also been seen in vaping due to its harmful effects to people’s airways. Lung destroying chemicals including diacetyl, 2, 3-pentanedione, and acetoin were uncovered by Harvard scientists in numerous studies. Inhalation of vapor from e-cigarettes has been proven to cause throat irritation and dry mouth, also killing gum cells leading to skin disease.
Not only that, A separate study led by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health found high levels of toxic metals in the liquid that creates the aerosol that e-cigarette users inhale when they vape (Knapton). In this study, researchers at Hopkins also found that the coil which heats up the liquid includes five heavy metals that are carcinogenic when their fumes are inhaled. Inhalation of these metals by young people can have dire effects on brain development, so obviously vaping (along with having an addictive drug) is very bad for teen health.
The use of e-cigarettes by maturing young people has been proven to lead them to an even more disgusting habit, smoking cigarettes. Vaping acts as a gateway to smoking, scientists have warned, after finding teenagers who used e-cigarettes were four times more likely to start smoking tobacco within a year (Knapton). This is appalling considering that cigarettes have been on the downward trek in recent years among teenagers. Even young people who have been subject to the wrongs of smoking may become desensitised to the harmful effects of cigarettes. Not only that, but it has been proven that teenagers who use e-cigarettes are more likely to become addicted to cigarettes due to nicotine content. In a pretty recent study, 347 teenagers were asked about their views on abusing drugs along with vaping and smoking.
Upon checking back in with those same teens a year later, researchers found that one in three teens who weren’t smokers in the first survey, but had vaped, were now smoking cigarettes (Knapton). This showcases the dangerously addictive nature of nicotine among young people. The habitual usage of e-cigarettes can lead to nicotine dependence and after time the vape isn’t enough causing teens to resort to smoking cigarettes. For young people, smoking cigarettes can lead to an early onset of heart and lung issues.
The frequent use of e-cigarettes not only can lead to cigarette smoking, but also open a gateway to numerous other drugs. According to the Drug Abuse Organization, chronic e-cigarette use obviously lead to nicotine addiction but it can also lead to being addicted to substances such as cocaine and methamphetamine. This due to the fact that nicotine directly feeds the brain’s reward system and can affect its correct development. The reward system in a teenage brain is partly responsible for producing dopamine, which causes happiness. A teenager’s reward system is easily triggered due to the maturation their brains are going through at this range of ages. So, when a teenager ingests nicotine it directly affects their reward system – making them happy. Therefore, since their brain is so easily triggered from outside stimuli like nicotine, eventually their brain will crave something stronger like amphetamines. If young people are becoming addicted to such things so early on, it will only create an even larger epidemic in our country ten years down the line.
Evan tells me he doesn’t think vaping will level out or subside among people his age anytime soon. Insisting that it can be a quick way to have some fun since the high is instant, especially in school since it’s very discreet. Nonetheless, he acknowledges the fact that his use of e-cigarettes can become addicting and cause health issues in the future. For now Evan has decided to give e-cigarettes a long break knowing the numerous negative effects they cause. But, in the end it won’t stop teenagers in high school from using e-cigarettes or the next “new thing” to get a quick high or add to their “dope buzz” at parties. Still, one kid saying no can go a long way for their own well-being and the stability of our future society.
