7A - Testing the Hypothesis, Part 1

Preventing teens from Juuling 

 Opportunity: Young teens becoming addicted to nicotine is on the rise, ruining their lungs and causing lasting addiction while underage.

Who: Young adults and teens aging 14-21+

What: Illegal underage use and harmful addiction

Why: Young people thinking its hip, trendy and cool

Testing the Who: This is also important to the Juul and vape companies that are advertising and promoting their products usage while underage minors are taking it up when not allowed. They must enforce its limitation, just as smoking companies had to put reminders of the dangerous health effects.

Testing the What: While those over 21 can legally purchase and use nicotine products when vaping with nicotine juices was gaining popularity while i was in high school the laws said you had to be 21 to purchase but there was no are restriction on actual usage at that time. If you already had one you could use it, just not buy, I'm not sure if the laws are still the same out there are changes to still be made. Many older people are now taking it up to curb off their smoking addiction by using lower dosages of nicotine found in the various pod and juice options.

Testing the Why: Trends come and go but those that involve addictive substances don't. After all the effort of adults curbing generation after them to no take up smoking, the invention of Juuls and vaping brought the cycle right back. Something about the allure of the dangerous product, the high feeling of nicotine and the way media portrays it in a positive light. A factor of teen rebellion is also common.

Interview 1: He who shall not be named grew up in a family of smokers. His parents tried to hid it as well as possible and avoid exposing them to second hand smoke but the smell and effects still linger. He accredits his mother curbing off her smoking and watching his older brother take up smoking and its effects as why he himself never took it up. His father still smoke but is now using vaping to work off the addiction after getting down to a pack a day. His father and brother are adamant about him not taking smoking up knowing full and well the effects.

Interview 2: He who shall not be named is a friend who was slowly on the path to becoming forever addicted to Juuls. He accredits luck to losing the bad habit as over time after taking hits to the Juul his lungs began hurting and his health deteriorated. He now tries to help his friends curb their addiction. Watching them waste their money has made him even more aware of how bad it has and how lucky he was able to get off of it before it got worse.

Interview 3: He who shall not be named is a veteran and previous smoker. He has been clean for some years now. Quitting was very hard and he went back a few times. When working off the addiction he said his lungs hurt from what he described and all the junk from the cigarettes trying to be flushed out his body now that he was off of it. He said it was like tar had formed on his lungs and truly noticed how it affected his breathing. He recommends vaping for those curbing smoking but not to use juuls on its own as the addiction simple isn't worth it.

Interview 4: She who shall not be named has never tried cigarettes but has tried the occasional juul and vaping while in social gatherings with friends. She has said that even those she occasional uses them that shed probably never get addicted but there is no such thing as a guarantee. She uses her friends stuff and avoids the idea of buying her own and those around her who did can no longer go without. She also considers it a massive expense as some friends go through a pod or multiple pods a day and each one equals a pack of cigarettes. A pack of 4 pods used to be around 20 or more dollars.

Interview 5: She who shall not be named has never used Juuls or pods and considers the hype and interest in it as strange. Claiming it as a waste of money and a long term expense. She can understand previous smokers using it to quit but can't reason with why kids are using it. She finds the creation to Juuls to be the catalyst for all the troubles as its usb like design makes it too easy to use and sneak around.

Findings: Surprisingly enough even though some were addicted and liked it before many were against the usage and condemned it. None thought that it was something that should be used unless in the act of curbing off cigarette addiction. While many talked of the troubles of how the product of nicotine was addicting they didn't mention much on how the environment around them promoting its usage was at fault. Perhaps they thought the fault mainly laid on themselves for trying and using it then falling addicted or just didn't think of how strong influence of those around you is.