By: Charlotte Smith
A new revelation was announced in a meeting with Bladen County’s Healthy Collaborative Tuesday morning. The new JUUL, an electronic alternative to cigarettes is gaining popularity with our teenagers.
Travis Greer, Regional Youth Tobacco Prevention Coordinator stated 16.8% of teenagers are using electronic cigarettes and the kids say JUUL is the apple product of the e-cigarettes.
BladenOnline.com staff asked some Bladen County high school students if they knew about JUUL products. All wanted to remain anonymous, but each student we asked said the JUUL products are very popular with a lot of students attending both East and West Bladen High Schools.
A next question we asked was how are underage users obtaining the products. The majority of the JUUL pod systems and refills are sold from the product’s website according to reports. To enter the e-cigarettes website for ordering you have to verify you are 21 years of age. Students say the age restrictions online are bypassed and some underage smokers obtain the JUUL products by online ordering or the students have adults purchase the products for them.
The reason for the products being so likable is, according to Greer, JUUL products are compact, discreet devices that pack the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes, but are very easily concealed. The e-cigarette products have many different flavors.
The JUUL products are different from other e-cigarettes due to the fact Pax Labs, the manufacturer of the JUUL products, use a patented mix of salts found in tobacco leaves giving users a sensation closely related to smoking tobacco. JUUL managed to become the leading electronic cigarette in November of 2017 according to statistics, capturing 32% of the total electronic cigarette market last year. Pax Labs, saw an increase of 621% in sales of their JUUL products over the sells in 2016.
“We are in trouble,” Tiina Mundy with Bladen Community College said referring to the increase in users of the JUUL products. “I’m sure we have students using this product on our campus, but I wasn’t even aware it existed,” Mundy added.
A lot of the teachers and parents don’t even realize what the products are because they look like a flash drive. JUULs are long, slim, black rectangles with the capability to plug into USB ports for charging. Greer reported there are numerous videos on YouTube training students how to conceal the JUUL products in school.
Greer, his co-worker Ernest Watts and Tiina Mundy said they are working together trying to raise awareness about the risks of tobacco and e-cigarette products. While e-cigarettes are rated fair for aiding traditional tobacco smokers to quit smoking, the JUUL products and their counter parts are generating younger e-cigarette users.
Efforts to limit tobacco and e-cigarette use in Bladen County continues to gain support. Watts announced due to his team’s work with local officals as of June 30th this year all three Bladen County Housing Authority sites will be smoke free. Bladen Community College adopted a smoke-free campus policy last year as well. Mundy announced the smoke-free efforts at the school’s campus are going well. The college will have a Kick Butts event at Bladen Community College on March 21st, 2018 to encourage smokers to quit.
One of the videos from Youth on how tips and tricks on how to use the JUUL:
https://youtu.be/uLhoYETNxrs
About Author
