Vape Ban, Juul Ban, Whatever Man
Laura Shin (11-3)
Photographed by Theo Wyss-Flamm (12-4)
Recent fanfare in the vape world has been for nought after the Trump Administration retreated from its proposed ban on flavored electronic cigarettes. Since September, the White House has been involved in a flurry of proposals that would remove flavored e-cigarettes and nicotine pods from the market. A ban was created in response to a mysterious vape-related illness that has claimed forty-two lives and left more than a thousand people sick. However, Mr. Trump has backed down from the issue due to fears of potential political repercussions from harsh restrictions that could affect his chances at reelection. White House officials have reported that his anti-vape enthusiasm was mostly due to pressure from his wife and daughter. If the crackdown on e-cigarettes is to continue, it will likely be in the hands of the states: New York and Massachusetts are part of the handful that has already placed temporary bans on flavored e-cigs due to public health concerns. New Jersey will be the first state to permanently ban flavored vapes.
The majority of vape-related illnesses have not been directly connected to nicotine but to counterfeit vape products that contain THC, a psychoactive ingredient in marijuana. Another possible culprit is Vitamin E acetate because of its toxicity when inhaled and increased usage as a thickening agent by black market producers. The FDA has released a warning that cautions against the usage of THC vaping products or illegally purchased vapes, but the root of the lung disease dubbed “EVALI” (e-cigarette or vaping product use associated lung injury) by the CDC has yet to be found.
The sharp rise in EVALI outbreaks has tarnished the already spotty reputation of the e-cig industry and by extension its star darling Juul Labs, an American company notorious for their marketing techniques that target adolescents as potential consumers. Along with the many other changes Juul has made in light of the deaths, Altria executives have taken over the company’s leadership, advertisements have ceased, and mint pods are in the process of being removed from the market, leaving only tobacco flavors available for legal sale. Juul’s website also sports a cute new feature that automatically jumps to an anti-smoking page if a user fails to confirm that they are twenty-one and older (it advertises profusely how to “become a smoke-free teen”). The security is lax at best, and Altria is one of the world’s largest producers of tobacco (they also hold a $13 billion stake in Juul). But what does all of this mean for Masterman students?
Nothing, really. Any federal legislation that might have affected the Philadelphia School District has now been stalled, leaving students with the anti-vaping workshops during guidance that were an attempt in curbing teenage vaping. Masterman counselors have opened their doors to students who want to talk about quitting, but according to Ms. Abney, none have come forward. Students themselves seemed indifferent towards the ban, or disdainful: several high schoolers wryly noted the contrast between the federal government’s quick action against vaping (thank you, Barron!) versus the slower response to gun reform and climate change, two issues that have been highly publicized by student advocates. Some say that juuling is no longer in vogue, as students seem to now prefer the cheaper e-cig alternative NJOY. Officer Taylor has collected around twenty vapes this school year, a number that he doesn’t find indicative of an epidemic, but he admits that there could be more coming in with the middle schoolers who are unhampered by the metal detector. Whatever the case, any resident vaper can heave a sigh of relief and continue to hog the best bathroom stalls- the united front against vaping has evaporated faster than one can say “juul pod”.