by Sophie Gilbert ‘19 and Zach Burd ‘19, News Editors

1963: American Herbert Gilbert patents the first e-cigarette.

After returning from a tour of duty in Korea, Gilbert decided that he needed to find a way to slow his cigarette consumption, which averaged around 2 packs a day. He wanted to design a product that reduced the health concerns associated with burning tobacco, and concluded that he would have to replace it with heated, flavored air.

He successfully manufactured a few prototypes and pitched his idea to prominent chemical, pharmaceutical, and tobacco companies, only to get turned away at every end. Perhaps these companies were afraid that Gilbert’s steam was too visually different from the smoke consumers were used to. Perhaps they were waiting for his patent to expire so they could produce his product on their own. Or perhaps they were simply interested in protecting their existing markets, and he was ahead of his time.

One thing is for sure, though. Current e-cigarette models are remarkably similar to his original patent.

2003: Chinese pharmacist Hon Lik manufactures the first e-cigarette.

It took 40 years for the next major figure in the history of the vaping industry to appear. But even after all that time, he had similar motivations as his predecessors; after his father passed away from lung cancer, Hon Lik began to worry about what could happen to himself due to his smoking habit.

One night, according to Lik himself, he forgot to take off his nicotine patch before falling asleep. The influx of drugs into his system caused a peculiar dream: he found himself drowning in a vast ocean, unable to breathe. Suddenly, miraculously, the water turned into a harmless vapor that he could—and wanted to—breathe.

Lik brought his product to mass market in 2006, revolutionizing the cigarette industry through his use of an atomizer.

2007: PAX labs is founded, a company that will later create the PAX vaporizer and JUUL e-cigarettes.

James Monses and Adam Bowen founded PAX Labs with the goal of making smoking obsolete. Both smokers themselves, they founded the company when they were unable to find healthier alternatives to cigarettes. They later created JUUL with the goal of producing a better alternative to cigarettes that did not have the health or social impacts that cigarettes did. The overall goal of the company, as stated on their website, is to create “simple, pleasurable experiences.”

2015: JUUL is invented.

JUUL grew in popularity almost immediately after being introduced by PAX Labs. It was referred to as “the iPhone of e-cigs” because of its convenience, minimalist design, and its complete takeover of the vape industry (similar to the iPhone’s dominance of the mobile phone industry).

The convenience of the JUUL is due to its small size; it is about 10 cm long and looks similar to a USB stick. This means it is easy to carry and to conceal. The USB charger that can be purchased with it makes it even more convenient. Additionally, it is relatively affordable and easy to obtain, as a JUUL device is $50 and a pod $16 for a pack. The convenience and affordability of the JUUL are what have made it become so popular in schools and among teenagers.

According to the 2015 National Youth Tobacco Survey, about 27.1% of US adolescents (13.5% of middle schoolers and 37.7% of high schoolers) had tried e-cigarettes. Juuling has also become ingrained in pop culture, with Instagram accounts posting videos of teens Juuling gaining large amounts of popularity and many thousands of followers. As Juuling has become more mainstream and a way to reach brief social media stardom, its popularity has skyrocketed.

2016: FDA implements a rule banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors under the age of 18 and requiring consumers to show ID.

There has been an ongoing debate about the health effects of vaping. Overall, knowledge of the long-term health consequences is very limited. One study from the Public Library of Science tested the effects of e-cigarettes on mice and found that their pulmonary antibacterial and antiviral defenses were impaired by an exposure to e-cigarettes in an amount proportional to the amount humans are exposed to when vaping.

However, the long term effects on humans still remain unknown.

What is known is that e-cigarettes are less harmful than their traditional counterparts, because they do not contain any of the tobacco or dangerous chemicals that classic cigarettes do. However, the high concentration of nicotine in e-cigarettes (one JUUL pod has the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes) can have harmful effects.

Since nicotine is so highly addictive, it leads to painful withdrawal symptoms. Even if someone smokes a Juul irregularly, “there is still [an effect] on the brain, and people still develop the nicotine pathways that will stick with them for a very long time,” Patricia Atwater, director of health promotion at Hall Health, said.  “Nicotine changes people’s brains forever. It becomes a chronic disease because your brain changes in such a way that you, for the rest of your life, are going to be susceptible to nicotine cravings and cravings for cigarettes.”

Furthermore, other chemicals in e-cigarettes such as formaldehydes and nitrosamines have been linked to cancer.

However, it is important to note that the levels of these toxins in e-cigs are much lower than the levels found in cigarettes. And because e-cigs are absorbed into the mouth rather than inhaled into the lungs, like cigarettes, there is much less exposure to dangerous chemicals. These are some of the reasons why many believe that the consequences of vaping are very minimal and not worth worrying about.

2017: Newark Academy reflects for the first time on widespread JUUL usage among students.

According to the CDC, there are about 9 million vape users in the United States. Additionally, Euromonitor International says that the US makes up 43.2% of the world’s vape users. And most importantly to the NA community, the Surgeon General estimates that e-cigarette usage has increased an astonishing 900% among high school students from 2011 to 2015.

The growing popularity of Juuling among students has become impossible to ignore. Its convenience has even prompted some students to risk using it in the middle of class. However, many teachers declined to comment on the issue, speaking volumes on the lack of communication between students and faculty members about it.

E-cigarettes started off as an innovation with noble intentions, but in modern times it has had some unfortunate results. Although it is likely a healthier alternative for existing smokers, it is certainly not beneficial on its own, and its ease of use and perception of healthiness has led it to lure many people, young and old, to become new smokers.

But the question many want answered is: Is Juuling a fad? Will it die out on its own?

Our Magic 8-Ball says, “Very Doubtful.”