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Butler County Drug Free ; JUULing

 Do you know what the term “JUULing” is??  What was once intended as an alternative to smoking has now become increasingly popular among teens, so popular that the CDC is warning it is becoming an epidemic among youth.  One of the reasons JUUL is so popular among teens is the ability to conceal it, at home or even at school.  A JUUL is an e-cigarette that resembles a flash drive, can be charged in a USB port, and produces little to no smoke when exhaled, making them discreet and easy to use without anyone noticing.  What’s even scarier about JUUL is that the exact health effects are not known just yet.  Since JUUL is rather new, there is little long-term data at this time.  We do know, however, that each JUUL pod contains the same amount of nicotine as one pack of cigarettes, which is alarming, especially for teens.  Since nicotine is highly addictive, this could lead a young person to smoke regular cigarettes later on, as well as increasing their chances for future addiction to other drugs.  Nicotine can also harm brain development, which keeps developing until about age 25.  Think the aerosol in e-cigarettes is harmless water vapor? Wrong!  Some of the ingredients in e-cigarette aerosol, such as nicotine, ultrafine particles, diacetyl, chemicals, and heavy metals can also be harmful to the lungs in the long-term.  The manufacturer of JUUL has commented that JUUL is not intended for use among youth, but with flavors such as mango, fruit medley, crème brulee, and thousands others, one cannot argue that it isn’t being marketed as “kid friendly”.  Make sure your child is not part of the over 20% of high school students and 5% of middle school students that have admitted to “vaping”, it is never too late to talk about it!

 

Submitted by Butler County Drug Free

 
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