Are JUULS the New Cigarettes for Today’s Youth?

By: Vida Hashemi-Nejad

Photos: Pixabay

This small device can be seen all over college campuses across the country. Many students who never even possessed a previous smoking history have resorted to using the Juul for the sole purpose of having fun. Originally, this was not the intended reason for the creation of the Juul, but it has now become the most common reason for its purchase. 

Juuling, a phenomenon derived from the utilization of the popular e-cigarette the Juul, has rapidly flourished within its designated market. This activity has consumed much of today’s youth. Some individuals have refrained from participating in this, but the vast majority have not.

The Juul was created in 2017 by co-founders and former cigarette smokers Adam Bowen and James Monsees. The sole purpose of the Juul was to provide smokers with a better alternative to toxic cigarettes. The goal of this product was to satisfy urges that cigarette smokers typically possess by substituting a less harmful option.

The Juul itself is a USB sized device that utilizes interchangeable cartridges referred to as Pods. These pods, although containing nicotine, provide customers with a wide assortment of flavors to choose from. These include: Mango, Cucumber, Mint, Menthol, Crème, Fruit, Virginia Tobacco, and Classic Tobacco. Depending on the flavor of choice, the nicotine percentage can be higher or lower. This is done to better tend to the customer’s specific needs and wants.

The electronic device offers many features to make the users’ experience easy and more convenient. The Juul is small and compact, which allows it to be carried anywhere anytime without a problem. The user can be notified of the Juul’s battery level by simply tapping on the front of the device. When this is done, one of three colors will appear. These colors are green indicating high power level, yellow for medium power, and red for low power. Another way in which the Juul offers convenience to its users is by uniquely allowing for it to be charged with a USB port or through a phone port (this option requires the possession of a specific head attachment). Once it is plugged in, the device quickly charges within an hour.

College and high school students make up a big portion of the consumer market for this device. Obtaining a Juul has become so easy and accessible to everyone. This small device can be seen all over college campuses across the country. Many students who never even possessed a previous smoking history have resorted to using the Juul for the sole purpose of having fun. Originally, this was not the intended reason for the creation of the Juul, but it has now become the most common reason for its purchase.

What is so special and unique about the Juul that it has attracted the attention of so many young individuals towards it? Erin Gray, a sophomore studying history at the University of Mary Washington said, “I occasionally Juul because it helps me relieve my stress.” Erin explained how she is a full-time student, athlete, and holds an on-campus job giving her a lot to juggle around. The question that can be asked is, are the busy and stressful day to day lives of college students leading them to resort to the Juul for comfort?

Other than stress, social life and status is a major component that impacts the lives of many college students. When entering a party, the two activities that are most likely to be seen are that of drinking or Juuling. When asked about this, a sophomore studying Business Administration at Marymount said, “The first time that I got introduced to the Juul was back in my freshman year of college. Everyone around me, including my closest friends, were Juuling and one of them asked me to hit.” He then proceeded to explain that ever since then, he has not been able to stop himself from Juuling.

Several of the interviewees were asked about how they were introduced to the Juul. The most common response to this was through a friend. In college and high school, peer pressure is at large. Students are afraid to say no out of fear of looking uncool and not fitting in with those around them. This results in the engagement of activities that the individual may or may not be comfortable with doing because of the possible negative repercussions that can come along with it.

A freshman studying at Marymount, who refrained from Juuling said, “Back in high school, I remember being at a gathering and some Indian kid had a Juul. Everyone around him, including himself, thought he was so cool. Afterwards, several people that I knew went out and bought one too in the hopes of gravitating the same attention to themselves as that kid had done.”

Many students in college who Juul started back in high school. These same students continue doing so in college and introduce it to other people around them. It is all a big Juuling cycle.

It may seem as if all college students have fallen onto the Juuling bandwagon given its massive popularity. But this is not necessarily the case for everyone. Some individuals have yet to Juul and do not intend to ever start. Samantha Gimon, a sophomore studying Early Childhood Education at Marymount said, “I have never Juuled even with its presence all around me because I find the whole idea to be repulsive. People Juul thinking they are cool and that it is better for them, but in my opinion, Juuls are just as if not more dangerous than cigarettes.”

Many students like Sam are completely opposed to Juuling because they are aware of the negative impacts that this can have on the body down the road. The Juul is claimed to be better than cigarettes, but this may not be the case. One JUUL pod is said to contain twenty cigarettes worth of nicotine in it. Aside from containing large amounts of nicotine, JUULS also include a vast number of chemicals that doctors believe can cause cancer later down the road.

People who Juul are most often times aware of the possible health risks that come with doing this. When asked about the pros and cons of Juuling, an avid cigarette smoker and Juuler at Marymount said, “I believe that the pros of Juuling is that it gives the user the best high out of all the vapes in the market. It also is the easiest device to obtain because there are no age restraints. As for the cons associated with the Juul, the ones that come to my mind are severe nicotine addiction and losing a great deal of money because changing the pods gets to be very expensive after some time.”

Juuls like cigarettes are not a cheap product to keep up with. The device itself is price pointed at $50 while the pods, which typically come in packs of four, are priced at $16 per pack. Also, something to keep in mind is that certain flavors are priced higher than others. This may have to do with how much nicotine is in that flavor causing the price to be a little more expensive than those flavors containing less nicotine.

Obtaining a higher education for most people is a hard and expensive thing to do. Whether it is paying for books, housing, classes or personal necessities, students have a great deal of finances to juggle around. For this reason, it is common to see students balance working one or sometimes even two jobs to make ends meet. “I used to Juul very frequently. Some months I would spend over $30 on buying pods. This quickly started to take a toll on me financially. For that reason, I decided to stop Juuling because smoking wasn’t worth having financial struggles over. Now, I substitute the money I used to spend on my Juul on other things that are more of a priority in my life and that can actually benefit me,” said a junior studying Physical Therapy at Marymount.

As previously mentioned, not only do Juuls contain harmful ingredients but they are also a great way for getting sick and spreading diseases. Individuals smoke from one Juul and then pass it on to their friends and in some cases complete strangers. In general, sharing devices is not sanitary thing to do especially through consumption or by mouth.

A popular and very common sickness that can be transmitted by the Juul is Mono. This is because smoking the Juul requires for an individual to place their mouth on the pod. When this is done, that person leaves behind their saliva on that device. The next person who utilizes that same Juul will consume the previous persons saliva as well. With doing this, all kinds of bacteria can get passed along.

“I used to share my Juul a lot not thinking much about whether it was sanitary or not until one day I got really sick because of it. I ended up in the hospital and was told that I had a severe form of Mono. After this incident, I have not allowed anyone to use my Juul again,” said a senior studying Criminology at the American University.

Cigarettes and Juuls although somewhat different, share two things in common. These similarities are that they are highly addictive and they can be detrimental to lung health. When asked if Juuls are better than cigarettes, Paolo Rivas, a sophomore at Marymount said, “I think that both are bad, but I am leaning more towards saying that smoking a Juul is better than smoking a cigarette. I do not know much about Juuls because I have never done it, but I am aware that cigarettes can cause lung cancer along with many other health conditions due to the tobacco and nicotine contents that they obtain. Since Juuls do not burn tobacco, many people consider it to be somewhat healthier. In reality, it is not because it still contains nicotine and more of it, which can also cause numerous health problems as well. This is why I do not do either of the two.”

Young people are attracted to the Juul over cigarettes for a few reasons. The first being that the Juul offers many flavors to choose from whereas cigarettes do not. This makes Juuling more enjoyable to do. The second reason is that a Juul can easily be concealed from others due to its small size. Finally, the JUUL doesn’t have any odors that can linger in the air or on people’s clothes or breath whereas cigarettes on the other hand do.

“Juuls are highly addictive and I know this because I cannot go without my Juul for any longer than a day. I start to develop strong urges and withdrawals when I do not smoke. When I first started Juuling, I was unaware that I could get as addicted as I am today. My advice to people tempted to try it is do not because it can quickly take over your life,” a senior studying Accounting at Marymount said.