Is It Cool to Juul?
Your middle school and high school student may feel it is cool to Juul. They would be in good company. It is wildly popular, particularly with middle school and high school students! There is an epidemic in the use of Juul or other forms of e-cigarettes. From 2017 to 2018*, the number of high-school-age children reporting the use of e-cigarettes rose by more than 75 percent. Use among middle schoolers also increased by nearly 50 percent.
Why Discuss Juuling With Your Children?
Juuling is so popular now that it is now a verb: Are you juuling? Most teenagers have little if no interest in smoking cigarettes, but juuling is different. It’s considered cool to Juul.
The video below is an eye-opener! The Silberman Dental Group in Waldorf, Md. recommends you watch this video with your middle school or high school students:
Flavors are drawing teens in, and the nicotine is forcing them to stay. It comes in sweet and fruity flavors including Cool Mint, Fruit Medley, Crème Brulee, Mango, and Cool Cucumber. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm brain development. The F.D.A. states that the developing adolescent brain is particularly vulnerable to addiction. Each Juul pod is roughly equivalent to one pack of cigarettes in nicotine content!
Tell me more about Juul
Juul looks like a flash drive and comes with pods in eight flavors. Juul became the dominant seller of e-cigarettes and a fad among students within a very short time. It was launched in 2015.
Juuls are designed so discreetly that most people don’t even recognize them as an e-cigarette. Juuls have a sleek design and resemble USB drives. It is easy for students to conceal and use Juul in school. Juuls produce less smoke than many similar devices making them even more discreet.
Oftentimes young people using Juuls don’t understand the dangers of nicotine addiction and they are pushed by friends to use the good tasting Juul.
Why is a dentist blogging about Juul?
This is an epidemic amongst middle and high school students. All health professionals have much reason to be concerned. Many agencies are sounding alarms including The American Academy of Pediatrics, The Center for Disease Control, and The Department of Health and Human Services
We are a family practice. We are concerned about complete health. Juul and other forms of e-cigarettes cause one to inhale toxic chemicals though fewer than do smokers of traditional cigarettes. But they can have higher levels of nicotine than cigarettes. And it will cause periodontal disease as a result of nicotine ingestion.
How easy is it to obtain Juuls and what is being done now:
Juul in the past was easy to easy to obtain locally by minors and is available online. F.D.A. Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said that his agency has launched a massive enforcement action against retailers for allegedly selling Juul and other e-cigarettes to minors. Retailers who were sent warnings include 7-Eleven Stores, Walgreens, Circle K convenience shops and Shell gas stations. Additionally, there is a federal investigation into whether Juul Labs intentionally marketed its devices to youth.
*Opinion piece on October 11, 2018, written by Alex Azar and Scott Gottlieb, Secretary of health and human services and commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration
