Health Issues Rising as Vaping Continues

In recent years, vaping has become a huge problem, especially for teenagers and young adults. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration reported a 78 percent increase from the number of students who vaped in 2017 compared to 2018. In Montgomery County, there have been students who have ended up in the hospital because of Juul and other vape products.

Last school year, at least five MCPS students lost consciousness at school after vaping, according to county health officials. In more recent cases, on March 2nd, 2020, two Blair students were sent to the hospital after vaping THC and becoming sick at school. One of the students was unresponsive and the nurse called 911 to send them to a local hospital. They were released later that day.

In another recent case, a Northwest high school alumni of the class of 2018, raised awareness in an Instagram post. Claire Chung survived a near-death experience around Christmas time and raised awareness against vaping, juuling, and using oil carts. In her caption, she stated as there is no research for a cure, her doctors were unsure of how

to fix the damage.

In addition to that, she stated she never felt any symptoms of respiratory issues and emphasized how the use of products such a Juul truly is a silent killer. Chung added on by sharing that if it were not for her December break, she could’ve died as she would not have access to health care. Her post has since gone viral with 333k likes and she continues to share her story with young adults to raise awareness to stop the rising issue of vaping.

In today’s society, the number of students vaping is rising at an alarming rate. The most frightening part is doctors do not know how damaging vaping is for your health as it is a fairly new issue. Thus, schools need to do more to help prevent students from vaping and illegally abusing substances.