Chapter 2: Administration responds to rise in Juul use

Teenage use of nicotine vapes has exploded in the course of a short year, and it’s almost entirely attributable to one device: the Juul. The sleek design and celebrity endorsement has extended the popularity of the device far beyond its intended audience of legal consumers into the bathrooms of the high school.

This issue has not gone unnoticed by administration. There have already been five instances of referrals being given for Juul use, or Juuling, this year alone, but principal Cynthia Prieto believes the problem is much more prevalent than the number of referrals reflect.

“It seems to go in waves. It’s probably happening more than we’re able to catch but it’s just too easy to conceal. You can take a couple puffs and move on and nobody will know anything,” Prieto said.

Referrals for Juuling have been given in bathrooms, locker rooms, the cafeteria and even the library. To combat Juuling in the bathrooms, Prieto has had to alert staff to be on the lookout, a concept which she is not entirely comfortable with.

“It’s difficult to bust people because it’s mostly happening in bathrooms and we don’t want to invade students’ privacy. I have told staff to be visible and aware. If they need to wash their hands, they can go into the restroom to wash their hands. We just don’t want anyone to feel so uncomfortable that they can’t go into the bathroom without worrying about someone popping in. We just have to be careful that we’re balancing between the two well,” Prieto said.

Despite the skyrocketing use of Juuls defying FDA and NIH expectancies, the popularity of the Juul comes as no surprise to Prieto.

“I think that every time there’s something new, there’s a crest in the mystique and it gets overused. As far as the school is concerned, we’re still nicotine free. That’s just a federal law. As far as the administration is concerned, it’s a health issue,” Prieto said.

Juul pods contain a nicotine level equivalent to a pack of cigarettes. Nicotine has been linked to problems with teenage brain development, and the vape itself isn’t regulated and can contain lung-damaging chemicals.

The possibility of students developing an addiction is alarmingly high for Prieto, but her main concern is the customizability of what students can vape.

“I think Juul’s are more of a concern for me because of what you can do with them. Much like some of the E-Cigs, you can put in substances that are highly dangerous. Drugs can be put in them and it’s very hard to trace. There’s just no quality control and for me, it’s just scary,” Prieto said.

Prieto is hoping to work with the SCA to combat the Juul epidemic student-to-student. Vaping has also been incorporated into Health classes and a program has been created for students caught Juuling or using other substances in school.

The program, Second Chances, implements a curriculum that hopes to educate students on the dangers of using substances including nicotine. However, Prieto is still concerned that their efforts aren’t enough.

“I’m hoping that its popularity is on the downslide, but we don’t have that empirical data. My impression is that it’s the younger kids that are using [Juuls] more, and so our concern is what implications that might have for later in life with addictions and other issues,” Prieto said.

The severity of the problem is apparent to Prieto in the level of daringness of some of the students using Juuls.

“We’ve caught people Juuling in the middle of the library,” Prieto said. “There’s not even an effort to hide it because people believe that the smoke dissipates fast enough or that people won’t notice. That level of boldness is scary for us.”