What’s the Deal with JUULs?

JUULs are an extremely popular e-cigarette vaporizer among young adults in both high school and college.

(“JUUL” is used as both a noun and verb, though the latter is mostly teen slang). Known for its sleek design and sweet flavors—which have been criticized as tactics used to target underage smokers—JUUL advertises all of its products as solely the “satisfying alternative to cigarettes,” complete with testimonials from people who used to struggle with cigarette addiction and benefitted from JUULs during the recovery process.

Many People Are Unaware JUULs Contain Nicotine

According to the manufacturers, JUULs are designed and sold to be exclusively used as an alternative to tobacco products for adults who struggle with cigarette addiction. This really is a positive aspect of the JUUL, as cigarettes contain hazardous chemicals—in addition to the already-harmful tobacco—that are too many to list (e.g.; ammonia, formaldehyde, lead, carbon monoxide, and 6, 996 more).

However, this does not mean that JUULs are a safe product in general. On their own website, they explain that they are not entirely tobacco-free as many people think. Their e-liquid, usually referred to as pods, contain “nicotine salts found in the tobacco leaf, rather than free-base nicotine”.

It is the nicotine that makes JUULs harmful to both people trying to quit addictive cigarettes and for the many teens and young adults whose first “smoking” experiences are with JUULs. Under the FAQ tab on their website they state that one pod is equivalent to “1 pack of cigarettes or 200 puffs” and when purchasing a pod online they do state that each “contains 0.7mL with 5% nicotine.”

So, while it is unarguable that JUULs are a less-harmful way to satisfy a pre-existing nicotine addiction when compared to cigarettes and their 7,000 chemicals, they do not solve the original problem of substance abuse. JUULing can even worsen said addiction depending on how much nicotine a user was originally intaking. We must be wary of it becoming a substitute addiction as well.

Underage Use of JUULs Poses Special Risks

What is arguably the most concerning JUUL quality is their appeal to underage users who don’t fully understand the dangers associated with their behavior. According to a Business Insider’s article, “25 percent of 15- to-24-year-old JUUL users do not identify their behavior as vaping…[and a] survey of 1,018 15- to 24-year-olds in the U.S. revealed that 37 percent of teens were uncertain that they were inhaling nicotine.”

For most trends, the only costs to joining in would be social capital, individuality, and money. With JUULing, all of those costs can be present, but there are also the costs to your health.

Unlike most fads, we can easily pinpoint what is making JUULs so popular: the highly concentrated and highly addictive amount of nicotine in each pod.

An Alternative to JUULs Uses Essential Oils to Help You Kick the Habit

If you are already in the recovery process and miss the physical action of smoking or if you do not smoke but are in an environment of social smokers, MONQ could be a natural supplement to your recovery plan or to help resist the temptation to start.

MONQ products do not have nicotine or any other harmful, addictive elements—only essential oils. MONQ is kind of like an essential oil diffuser but in “vape” form. They have a variety of scents that reflect different types of aromatherapy, for example: Sleepy, Zen, Energy, Focus, etc.

Even if you feel that these products have “no effect,” the process of using them requires repetitive deep breathing that has health benefits on its own. MONQ products are exhaled through the nose in order to streamline the aromatherapy affect; which is proven to be an effective natural practice. According to Organic Facts, aromatherapy “is often used to improve mood, change cognitive states, and can also be utilized as a supplemental medicine” and it has the ability to benefit your physical health through “ “its ability to relieve anxiety and depression, boost energy levels, speed up the healing process, cure headaches, boost cognition, induce sleep, strengthen the immune system, reduce pain, improve digestion, and increase circulation.”