It鈥檚 not as common to find high-school students sneaking a cigarette at school these days. Still, large numbers of teenagers are finding themselves addicted to nicotine.
They鈥檙e not smoking, they鈥檙e vaping: Inhaling a flavored vapor created when a cartridge of nicotine-laced liquid is heated in a rechargeable device.
According to a report released this week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the use of e-cigarettes among high school students in the U.S. increased by nearly 78 percent from 2017 to 2018, totaling more than three million young people.
Many are using a device made by a company called Juul Labs. It looks like a computer thumb drive and is easy to hide. They call the device a 鈥淛uul,鈥� and when they use one, they are 鈥淛uuling.鈥�
Orange High School senior Ahmed Abouelsoud says the Juuls are everywhere. Young people get 18-year-olds to buy the devices and the nicotine cartridges for them at a slight markup. And now that he鈥檚 18, access is even easier.
鈥淚 started [vaping] over a year ago,鈥� Abouelsoud said. 鈥淏ack then it wasn鈥檛 like I was going to get addicted to anything. Just a fun random thing to do with vaping.鈥�
Abouelsoud says he had never tried a cigarette before his Juul addiction.
鈥淲hen I actually started being able to breathe in the smoke and get a buzz. I loved it,鈥� Abouelsoud said. 鈥淚鈥檝e never smoked or done anything. It was just a different experience.鈥�
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1.5 million more young people used e-cigarettes in 2018 than 2017.
The nicotine is highly addictive, something Orange High junior Jared Kochis found out quickly.
鈥淚 kind of knew I had a problem once I got some point where like if I went a week and like a couple of days where I couldn't get pods鈥� I was starting to feel the symptoms of withdrawal,鈥� Kochis said. 鈥淚'd be really irritating and kind of angry and anxious all the time, and to the point where I was spending like hundreds of dollars.鈥�
The epidemic came on fast, according to Orange High School psychologist Edie Ungar-Shafron.
鈥淚 had no idea what it was two years ago until we had kids who were caught in the bathrooms,鈥� Ungar-Shafron said, voicing concerns about the effect of nicotine on young developing brains. 鈥淭heir brains are not ready to handle this nicotine at such powerful levels until their brains are better, more fully developed.鈥�
The can affect learning, memory and attention in the adolescent brain.
Peer to Peer Support Helps Students Quit Vaping
Another student, Mark Pristash, approached Ungar-Shafron to admit he was addicted to vaping. He found himself constantly thinking about using his Juul. He wanted to quit.
鈥淎fter multiple times of trying to quit by myself, I just don't know what to do. I didn't think it was possible,鈥� Pristash said. 鈥淚 just thought I was way too addicted and so I went in and I met with Mrs. Ungar-Shafron, the school psychologist. I just told her that I was addicted and I was trying to quit.鈥�
They discussed various coping mechanisms and tools to help Pristash end his nicotine addiction.
鈥淲e went outside and walked on the track because he couldn鈥檛 sit,鈥� Ungar-Shafron explained.
Their walking sessions worked and it triggered an idea to help others. They connected with Jessica Venditti, the Social Advocates for Youth Counselor assigned to Orange. They developed a voluntary, non-punitive, peer-to-peer program known as ABC, or About Control, to help the many other students facing what Pristash faced.
鈥淪o I feel like ABC is unique in that it鈥檚 helped to foster a feeling and environment of the students being able to come forward and say, 鈥業 have a problem and I want some help,鈥� as opposed to waiting until they鈥檙e in trouble,鈥� Venditti said.
The school administration is on board. Assistant Principal Steve Hardaway said students still will face consequences if caught vaping at school, but the goal with ABC is to get them help, not just punishment.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a way that we can get the problem addressed without hammering the students with being out of school,鈥� Hardaway said.
Orange High School senior Ahmed Abouelsoud and junior Jared Kochis have both struggled to control their vaping addiction. [Tim Dubravetz / ideastream]
Like overcoming any addiction, it isn鈥檛 easy, and it often isn鈥檛 a one-time deal. Ahmed Abouelsoud threw his Juul out the window of his high-rise apartment building when he got serious about quitting, but he bought a new one and started vaping again.
鈥淲ell, I鈥檝e been trying to quit for I don鈥檛 even know how long, but I鈥檝e never been able to set my mind to it till recently,鈥� Abouelsoud said.
School psychologist Ungar-Shafron said she wishes there didn鈥檛 need to be a nicotine addiction support group in high school. However, reality dictates it and Abouelsoud and his classmates are building a new culture at the school.
鈥淭here are still kids who [vape]. It makes me really sad because we have posters. We have the New York Times article on the wall,鈥� Ungar-Shafron said. 鈥淲e advertise that we鈥檙e doing ABC group. Kids are still going to make those choices, but if they came to ABC club they鈥檇 learn how to take control.鈥�
