Three exams a week, twenty hours of work and social pressure weighs on college students across the nation, leading them to seek coping methods. Recently, young adults find comfort in a thin piece of metal that fits right in their hand and the high levels of nicotine these tiny devices puff out. The rise of e-cigarette usage on campus and the 29 alleged vape-related deaths nationwide raises the concerns of UI faculty and students alike.
According to the National College Health Assessment, 26.8% of University of Iowa students reported using e-cigarettes often, which is twice the national average of 12.6%. The trend gained popularity so quickly that health officials have yet to determine the full health impacts of vaping. UI Student Health Senior Health Consultant Steph Beecher says the only confirmed health defect of e-cigarettes is their ability to impair lung compacity.
Beecher says that while most trends gradually climb, the e-cigarette trend, especially amongst UI students, is a sharp incline Student Health was not prepared for.
“Nationwide, we have to keep pushing to get the research out,” Beecher said. “I went to a conference a year and a half ago at Mayo Clinic, and they are like the gurus of tobacco cessation. There’s probably 50 of us, educators and doctors. Immediately, we’re like, ‘What’s this Juul thing?’ Mayo was like ‘We don’t know.’”
The FDA has not found an effective way to treat vape addiction, Beecher said. The lack of information affects Student Health’s ability to treat students as well, especially since most students do not acknowledge their addiction, she said.
To learn more about the initiatives Student Health is taking to battle vaping on campus, listen to a clip from an interview with Beecher.
Instead of quitting completely, Beecher suggests fighting against the brain’s need for nicotine by slowly working up to resisting the urge more and more each day. Beecher recommends taking Chantix, chewing nicotine gum and counseling for students who struggle with nicotine vape addiction.
“The methods that I’m mentioning none of them have been found to work with vaping,” Beecher said. “The research isn’t out there. So I tell students we’re still figuring this out.”
Sophomore Megan Weinberger also suffers from an addiction to vape pens, and she began taking her recovery more seriously following the report of the vape-related deaths. Weinberger first became addicted after using a friend’s vape. Unaware of the nicotine in the vapor, Weinberger became unknowingly addicted to nicotine and continued using Juuls throughout her freshman year of college.
Now, Weinberger continues to vape juice without nicotine to help ease herself off her addiction. She says it is not as satisfying as juice with nicotine, but the recent deaths settle her need for nicotine vapes, she said.
“People know it’s wrong, but it hasn’t reached the level of cigarettes yet where it’s like this is a problem,” Weinberger said. “As a culture, we’re like ‘it’s cool.’ People [my] age don’t realize it’s a problem.”
Peer pressure and social pressure also play a large role in the temptation of vape pens, Beecher said.
First-year Grace Wachholz owns a Juul, but only vapes in social settings like parties or tailgates.
“I’ll go to a party, and if I vape, it’s not the end of the world,” Wachholz said. “I don’t think it’s necessarily good. As long as I don’t do it by myself, that’s when it’s dangerous.”
Beecher visited Up In Smoke’s Iowa City location to examine some of the marketing and set up behind the store. She understands why students find the store visually appealing, she said. Based on the bright colors and fruity flavors, Beecher says she highly doubts vape companies are targeting older, long-term smokers. The companies use their money, drugs and “cool” factor to manipulate teenagers, Beecher said.
First-year Olivia Allen said she thinks the media and marketing increased vape usage.
“I feel like I didn’t even know what a Juul was or what an NJOY was until I had seen all the ads for them,” Allen said.
Allen does not own a vape, but she vapes in party settings using her friend’s Juul.
However, Beecher believes Juul is trying to cover up the main issue of their product and remove the blame from their organization by advocating for an increase in vaping age.
“Juul put together a proposal to raise the age to 21 to buy their project,” Beecher said. “In face value, that’s great, but we need to be looking at other regulations like what the hell is in your product. It’s a Trojan horse.”