Well, parenting was never supposed to be easy, but it just seems to be getting harder. From trying to educate ourselves about social media trends like snapchat, instagram, vine and kik to understanding memes and GIF’s, while also being aware of tide pods, dripping and edibles — our heads are likely to be spinning. Now welcome to Juuling and vaping, the newest trendy ways for your teen to jeopardize their health. Haven’t heard of this?
These neat little devices can look like pens, USB drives, inhalers or even key fobs. They come in lots of fun flavors like pina colada, chocolate, mint or berry, yet manufacturers claim they are not being marketed toward teens. Don’t let anyone fool you; these products are designed to get kids hooked on nicotine, and contrary to popular myth they are addictive. The big tobacco companies know how addictive, cool and popular these products are, so they are attempting to create new generations of tobacco addicts by researching the “benefits” of smokeless tobacco such as e-cigarettes and Juules. In fact, big tobacco companies are the ones conducting the research on how much better these products are than old fashioned cigarettes. Does any of this sound familiar?
We spent years fighting to ban practices by big tobacco that marketed to children and here we are again. The appeal of Joe Camel and candy cigarettes pales in comparison to the slick packaging and marketing of Juule. These devices are easy to hide and hard to spot. The product retails for about $50 and can be ordered online. Just one Juule pod contains as much nicotine as an entire pack of cigarettes. The inhaled chemicals also include heavy metals like lead, chromium and nickel.
Thought e-cigarettes were just for tobacco? Think again. E-cigarettes are also being commonly used to inhale cannabis oil (thc) or melt highly concentrated “dabs” (a crystallized form of hashish). When used this way, the typical odor produced by burning marijuana is absent which makes it difficult for parents and teachers to detect the use of these illegal substances.
We all at Joshi Pediatrics work hard to keep parents educated and informed about the many issues our teens encounter. As pediatricians we are concerned about the health and safety effects of these products and encourage you to try and keep up with your teen and the trends of teenagers. I have included two websites with pictures of and information about Juules and vapes, so that we as parents can educate ourselves and keep our children and teens safe. The websites listed are not endorsements but are for educating parents about what these products look like and how they are marketed and sold. We encourage you to familiarize yourself with these devices and have conversations with your kids about the risks of substance use.
Resources:
www.vapornation.com/vape-pens.html
www.juul.com/shop-pods
Anita Joshi is a board certified pediatrician and mother of two has been practicing in Crawfordsville since 1998. Crawfordsville Pediatric Center is located at 1901 Lafayette Ave. Suite 100, Crawfordsville. She can be reached at 765-361-3086.
