THE NEW
SMOKE Vaping and other substance use sweep the culture of UAHS. BY DYLAN CARLSON SIRVENT, KATHERINE DOMINEK AND SOPHIE YANG, ‘19. PHOTO ILLUSTRATIONS BY GRACE CALL, ‘20.
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ast year during spring break,
senior John* and his family decided to go on vacation out-of-state. That meant he couldn’t bring his Juul along—he didn’t want to get caught. As days passed without access to his vape pod, what was supposed to be a relaxing break from school instead became a miserable one. “[There was] the really fun part of vacation, but then damn, I really want[ed] my Juul,” John said. This wasn’t just about wanting to Juul, he said. It was something much more serious: withdrawal. John’s senior year, which he said has been his most stressful so far, has only made him more dependent on vaping. “I treat it as a way to reward myself,” John said. “I’ll pressure myself to finish homework and then I can vape. Or I’ll leave my vape in my car when I go to work. I’ll use it as something to keep me going.” for the last decade,
high schools had been winning the fight against smoking. From 2011 to 2018, according to the CDC, cigarette smoking among high schoolers decreased by 16 percent—from 1 in 10 to 2 in 25. But as teen use of traditional cigarettes waned, a new technology was
