More people are dying due to vaping-related complications, leaving many people to rethink how e-cigarette companies are allowed to advertise.
Will saw his friends doing it, so he decided he would try it, too. He just wanted to fit in, he didn’t know he would become addicted to it.
So he started vaping.
Will Rose, a Ball State freshman, started using a JUUL, an e-cigarette that is popular among teens, to vape. Vaping can be defined as the inhaling and exhaling of aerosol, according to the Center on Addiction.
Will became dependent on to his JUUL, using it five to 10 times a day.
This lasted for nearly two and a half years.
For many teens, using an e-cigarette is common. A National Youth Tobacco Study reported that over 5 million middle and high school students in the United Statesuse vaping devices.
E-cigarettes have been promoted as a healthier alternative to smoking cigarettes. According to the FDA, cigarettes have thousands of potentially harmful chemicals in them, while e-cigarettes have significantly less.
This comparison leads the industry to promote vapes as a healthier substitution, ignoring the fact that they still contain nicotine.
Matthew Heller is an emergency room doctor in northeast Indiana and believes there is not enough research to prove vaping is a safe alternative to smoking.
“My personal opinion is that [vaping] will be found not safe with long term usage,” Heller says
The CDC has launched an investigation after several respiratory illnesses have been linked to vaping. Symptoms of these illnesses include coughing, chest pain, shortness of breath, vomiting, diarrhea, and fever.
By Oct. 29 of 2019, the CDC reported and confirmed 1,888 cases of injuries linked to vaping. These injuries have been found in 49 states and the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Not only have injuries been linked to vaping, but deaths have occurred due to the use of e-cigarettes in 24 states. Three of these deaths come from Indiana.
According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, nicotine is a highly addictive drug found in both cigarettes and e-cigarettes. Nicotine can increase your chance of having a heart attack, as it causes your blood pressure to rise and heightens your adrenaline, according to John Hopkins Medicine.
Will decided to quit vaping. He made this decision when he realized he was addicted and when he began to hear about the injuries that can occur when using an e-cigarette. So far, he has only relapsed once while at a party.
Will started vaping not only because his friends were doing it, but also because of the marketing for e-cigarettes; he felt they were aimed at young people.
“I think the different flavors marketed toward us are a big draw,” Will says. “There also seems to be an associated coolness with vaping from the media we consume.”
Heller also believes peer pressure and the way e-cigarettes are branded as “cool” influences teens to start vaping.
Companies like JUUL, the e-cigarette Will used, spend millions of dollars to advertise their products through social media.
In 2015, JUUL spent over $1 million on online marketing. The company’s marketing techniques include posting campaigns that show teens using a JUUL and having fun, showing off ideas of freedom and trendiness.
E-cigarette companies have more freedom when it comes to advertising their product than cigarette companies, which can no longer advertise their product due to the 1971 Fairness Doctrine, an act that prohibits advertising for tobacco products on the radio and tv.
E-cigarette companies can also sponsor events, another marketing technique that cigarette companies are not allowed to do. In 2018, JUUL sponsored a summit at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.
Cigarette companies are not allowed to sponsor social events due to the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act. This specific act prohibits tobacco companies from sponsoring cultural events after evidence was found showing how events sponsored by tobacco companies led to youth tobacco use, according to Truth Initiative.
Vape companies get away with sponsoring events because they are not considered tobacco or smokeless tobacco products.
The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act also bans the flavor in cigarettes, something vape devices are allowed to have and use to attract their audience. E-cigarette companies use this opportunity to hone in on teens by advertising youth-friendly flavors such as mango, cotton candy, and even gummy bear.
Will wishes he had never started vaping, as he feels there have only been negative repercussions.
“It’s better for your health and your wallet if you don’t start,” Will says.
According to a report by the U.S. Department of Health, Americans spent more than $10 billion on e-cigarettes in 2018.
Will plans on stopping his vape addiction by throwing away his JUUL; however, his biggest motivation are his friends who are also deciding to quit.
“We can keep each other in check,” Will says. “Knowing that I’m not alone in the struggle to beat addiction helps a lot.”
