Even as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) tries to limit the number of underage smokers, e-cigarettes continue to be popular on the St. Lawrence campus. They come in many different forms, but Juul controls most of the market. These small devices have become very popular with teens, as they are easy to hide and may not be recognized by everyone. These products are often seen being used by students in classes by teachers.
Many students who use Juul e-cigarettes started out using at a party, but now use them much more often. “I decided to try one of the flavors like mango or something at a party once and it was one of those things that once you start, it can get hard to stop. I do not use it every day, but most nights when I go out, I end up using it,” described a sophomore at St. Lawrence. The mango pods are some of the most popular ones for underage smokers.
While the legal age to buy Juul pods is 21, this doesn’t stop many people. “I knew which stores I could go to that would sell to me,even if I was underage. Now that they’re banned, I will probably just have someone who is old enough buy them online for me,” explained another smoker at St. Lawrence. Juul recently announced that they would stop selling all flavor pods in all gas stations and other retail locations after an FDA launched an investigation to try and lower the amount of underage use.
There are some students on campus who don’t like Juul e-cigarettes and want to see more done to stop the amount of use on campus.
“I understand some people like using them, but I do not want to be walking between classes and have puffs of smoke, or whatever it is, blown around me. I think maybe there should be designated locations like they have for smokers,” described a St. Lawrence junior. While St. Lawrence is supposed to be a smoke free environment, there is not much that can be done to stop the use of Juul e-cigarettes.
St. Lawrence currently bans e-cigarettes and all other smoking products on campus but keeping Juul e-cigarettes hidden is not difficult. The previously mentioned student talked about how he never had any issues keeping his Juul hidden. He explained that the small size of Juul e-cigarettes make them easy to hide, and he was never worried about getting caught with one.
The Juul e-cigarettes may just look like a flash drive, but every Juul product contains nicotine in it. Nicotine is addictive and once someone starts vaping, they can become addicted to it. Many underage smokers start out using Juul pods with flavors that appeal to them, such as mango, mint and fruit.
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