While many students have come in contact with vaping, they don’t seem to care too much about the health consequences. It’s not that they don’t know the risks, in fact most of the regular users of juuls understand the real and active health hazards vaping presents; it’s that they don’t really care.

There has come to be a mentality of indifference on the subject of juuling. A few may have their reservations about marijuana, perhaps even a stronger conscious about alcohol use. “Yeah, I think that juuling isn’t taken as seriously because its easier to get a hold of , and the different flavors make them more appetizing. I feel like a lot of teens use it to do tricks and stuff making it cooler to use,” Anonymous said. The same mindset, however, is not often applied to juuling.

One of the students I interviewed who uses juuls had similar views.“It’s not something that teens should be doing. The amount of nicotine in one pod is more than a pack of cigarettes, I probably shouldn’t be doing it,” Anonymous said. Known to be highly addictive and easy to carry around, juuls have become the new fad of the year, the norm, and a virus all in one.

The impact on the developing brain is also of great concern. According to studies at the National Center for Health Research, adolescents who began smoking at a young age had markedly reduced activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain, an area critical for a person’s cognitive behavior and decision making. This leads to increased sensitivity to other drugs and greater impulsivity.

Another peer I interviewed knew the hardships of the addictive nicotine firsthand. “It makes quitting so much harder because the headaches are unbearable, and it makes it really hard to focus,” Anonymous said. Another student is surrounded by friends that do it, but try to remain steadfast in their decision not to do so. It is often hard for them to resist. “There’s usually pressure when everyone’s doing it. I feel a little left out; sometimes it gets hard to refuse since to everyone else, it’s not that big of a deal,” Anonymous said.

Vaping, to be painfully frank, is not much of a phenomenon. The amount of juuling in school has gotten to the point where when you hear of it, it’s just another day in the life. A few may laugh at it while others may condemn it, but smelling the fruity flavor in the bathrooms doesn’t get too many second thoughts from either party.

Since it is a laughable subject to most, juuling will most likely continue to be a lighthearted subject for a while, despite the serious health hazards it presents.