A New Problem

A new issue is sweeping the nation right now and is currently at the forefront for President Trump. Vaping and E-cigarettes have become an increasing problem in the United States because it is falling into the hands of unsuspecting victims. JUUL was advertised as a healthy alternative to smoking, but with some JUUL pods containing almost 59 mg of nicotine per milliliter, some people are beginning to wonder if that claim really is true.

Vaping has brought up some major issues including trying to decipher differences in THC dab pens and actual vapes. THC dab pens are specifically used to hold the psychoactive drug that is found within marijuana. A vape is an electronic device that is releasing an aerosol or often referred to as a vapor into the body. These two are very different in how they are being used and how they are affecting users.

Iowa Lakes has seen a rise in usage on campus with vapes, juuls, novas, and other types of e-cigarette products. Sophomore Hailey Peters was a frequent vape user when she started this year off but had a significant setback after only 2 and a half weeks of being on campus. 

“This was all peer pressure and I didn’t do it until I got back into the dorms this year,” said Peters, “I went to the vape shop in Spirit Lake and got a Nova and you fill the pods with the juice just like any other e-cigarette.”

Peters was doing it multiple times a day. Peters also talked about how she had gone through a pod a day at one point. She was worried because she thought that it might cause some problems since most people tend to use these less than cigarettes. But then she became sick and stopped, but still had to go to the doctor. They did a strep test and it came back negative, so they thought she would be fine in a couple of day. 

“I just couldn’t get better,” said Peters, “They did chest x-rays on my lungs and little behold I had pneumonia in my lungs, and the first thing they asked me was if I was a smoker.”

Peters had liquid and bacteria in her lungs. She felt that she is seeing too many deaths from this sickness and is worried about it. She feels that people think that “cigarettes aren’t cool anymore.” 

This is a growing problem in the United States and is becoming increasingly worse every day. People seem to be unaware of the dangers of these e-cigarettes, but they are just as bad if not worse than regular cigarettes. India currently just banned the use of e-cigarettes, and China has currently stopped the production of the product. On the 29th of August, JUUL CEO Kevin Burns gave a warning to non-smokers,“Don’t vape and don’t use JUUL. If you don’t have previous nicotine attachment you are not our target audience.”

“Don’t do it, just because you think you’re cool don’t,” said Peter, “I would honestly never want to be as sick as I was ever again and that’s why I never want to do it again. You are essentially paying a company to kill you slowly so don’t waste your money.”