The U.S Surgeon General has declared it an epidemic. Teens all over the United States are being hospitalized, and now even dying from it. Vaping is intended to be an alternative for combustible cigarettes. Now, the generations raised on bringing tobacco usage down, is increasing e-cigarette and vaping with nicotine usage.

 

At IU’s campus, it is not uncommon to see students using these e-cigarettes, most commonly Juul, while walking to class. However, some students have faced the negative consequences and are warning others.

Junior KK Schmitzer used e-cigarettes almost every day. That is until one day she woke up with a black lump on the back of her tonsils. That same day, is when she quit using e-cigarette products.

“I got really, really nervous so I went to the doctor and they gave me antibiotics,” Schmitzer said. “But I could barely swallow them. It hurt so bad.”

Now the former Juul-user is convincing her friends to quit, or research the products they use.

 

Incidents like these, are leading many government officials to ban or limit the sales of e-cigartette products. The Trump Administration and FDA are currently outlining a plan to remove all flavored “pods” from retailers shelves.

Just in high schools, the amount of students using e-cigarettes has nearly doubled. In 2017 nearly 12% of students used e-cigarettes. In 2018 that number jumped to almost 22%.

However, vape shops all over the country see this as being detrimental to their businesses. The potential ban means loss of business. Employees of Vape Rush in College Mall are concerned that people are using products irresponsibly, therefore damaging the reputation of vaping as being a safer alternative to cigarettes.

One employee, Stephanie Henry, believes the people ending up hospitalized from vaping are not using products you would find in certified tobacco stores.

“They are the ones underage, buying products online from black market places and facing major consequences,” Henry said. “They don’t want to get in trouble.”

In order to sell e-cigarette products, there are guidelines to obtain certification, in addition to protocol while transactions occur. Specifically, if someone appears under the age of 27 they are required to show identification.