Have you ever heard of Juuling? The act of smoking a Juul e-cigarette?
No? Well, the chances are pretty good that your teen has.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says that the e-cigarettes are the latest craze among teens and that they plan to ” confront and reverse” the youth’s addiction to Juuling with a plan by mid-November
“We have hard data to support that public health tragedy that is now underway,” said FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in a statement.
Juul was created as a substitute for smoking cigarettes.
It claims to be unlike any other e-cigarette on the market. But like e-cigarettes, Juuls produce a smokeable vapor that has a similar level of nicotine as cigarettes do.
Smoking e-cigarettes are less harmful than smoking actual cigarettes, however, many e-cigarettes contain cancer-causing agents, according to a study titled “Adolescent Exposure to Toxic Volatile Organic Chemicals From E-Cigarettes.
“Although e-cigarette vapor may be less hazardous than tobacco smoke, our findings can be used to challenge the idea that e-cigarette vapor is safe, because many of the volatile organic compounds we identified are carcinogenic,” the study states. “Messaging to teenagers should include warnings about the potential risk from toxic exposure to carcinogenic compounds generated by these products.”
TODAY reports that a Rand Corporation study found that teens who vape go on to vape and smoke more.
Many teens are turning to Juul e-cigs because they are inconspicuous, easy to conceal and look like a USB flash drive.
They are also made with different candy and fruit flavors which can be appealing to younger vapers. Juul sales increased 641 percent between 2016 and 2017. Dr. Jenni Levy was shocked when she found out her daughter was Juuling.
“My biggest concern is she’s sucking in vapor and we don’t know what that does… I am worried about lung damage, I’m worried about addiction. I’m also concerned that it just seemed really out of character for our very level-headed, risk-averse kid — this was something I never thought I was going to have to worry about with her,” Levy told TODAY.
Her daughter told her she didn’t think Juuling was dangerous.
The full long-term consequences of e-cigarettes are unknown.
The FDA called youth e-cigarette use an “epidemic” in September and said it was considering banning all flavored e-cigarettes.
Kids are even Juuling when they are inside the classrooms and on school grounds.
“There’s no reason healthy adolescents should be exposing themselves to even potentially cancer-causing substances,” Dr. Mark Rubinstein, an author of one of the studies, said.
Juul says it is “incredibly focused on combating underage use” on its website and that “no minor should be in possession of a Juul or any other tobacco product.”
Learn more about teens and Juuling below.
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