Students should be aware of vaping health consequences

By Kareena Dhillon

Online Features Editor

Mira Costa is known as a place full of opportunity and academic excellence. However, during the past school year, it has become increasingly apparent that Costa’s image is being tainted by vape and nicotine products. If Costa would like to effectively address this epidemic, it must first spread awareness of the issue at hand, rather than just punishing individual students caught partaking in vaping while on Costa’s campus.

Products such as the Suorin and Juul are meant to be used by former smokers to slow their addiction to nicotine. Instead, they are being used by students for recreational use, drugabuse.com said. Vaping is also regarded as the safest and most effective measure to get young adults off nicotine, the National Institute on Drug Abuse for Teens said. What students may not be aware of is that one Juul pod is the equivalent to one pack of cigarettes, or 200 puffs, according to Juul’s website. Juul is a popular vaping option because of its accessibility and ease of use, as students are reportedly using these products for social and recreational reasons. Suorin is favored by teenagers because it is much more easily concealed than other vape devices with its minimalist design, according to the Suorin website.

Mira Costa should educate students on the possible health effects of using these various products. Costa has to be proactive and educate students who may be affected by this, rather than sending out mass emails that inform parents that these activities are going on. Although parents receive the  emails, some may choose not to discuss this topic with their child, which does not help to raise awareness about the effects of vaping.

People must be above 21 years of age to purchase these products on websites and in stores. This has done little to hinder the sale of nicotine devices to minors. Nicotine consumption can lead to nicotine poisoning or even worse effects that students may not be aware of. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cigarettes cause more than 480,000 premature deaths in the U.S. annually from smoking or exposure to secondhand smoke. Teens who are considering smoking for social reasons should acknowledge these numbers.

There have been an increased number of incidents of students who engage in using products such as Juul, Suorins and other vaping products on campus. Sadly, it is not limited to the high school, as Manhattan Beach Middle School has also caught students vaping on campus MBMS Principal Kim Linz said.  Many students simply engage in illegal activities in order to fit in with their peers, stillblowingsmoke.org said. According to Linz, there are legal consequences when minors possess or use any kind of vaping products. Despite this, many students believe that vaping a non-nicotine substance like essential oils is legal and safe. Awareness is essential in preventing vaping because most of the time students are not aware of the self harm and the consequences.

To address the growing concern of vaping, the Parent Ed Series held a panel presentation in the MBMS Multi Purpose Room on Feb. 27th called “What’s going on in our community? Insights into early teen behavior and risks.” Speakers from drug and treatment centers spoke at this exclusively adult meeting to discuss vape, drug and alcohol use among students. It is evident through this presentation that this issue has gained the attention of the district’s supervisors, which begs the question, will these new tactics be effective?

Costa security staff has been going into campus bathrooms periodically to ensure that students are not taking advantage of bathroom privacy to vape. The large, handicapped stalls are also periodically locked to prohibit students from coming into the stalls to vape. Though this may work to stop students from vaping on campus, it will not hinder their use of said devices.

Though Costa is being proactive in their response to the increased use of nicotine and vape instruments, it is more important to discuss student awareness than to simply punish students for use. Awareness has the opportunity to eventually foster student prevention not only at school, but to avoid potentially fatal consequences off-campus.