For some unknown reason, smoking and juuling has become a new fad. It seems as though people believe that smoking and juuling will make them ‘cool’ or at least, appear ‘cooler’, maybe even ‘tuff’. 

But I can assure you, smoking and juuling does not make you ‘tuff’. There have only been a select few who have made smoking appear ‘cool’. Such people were James Dean (rest easy, man) and Matt Dillon (while playing the part of Dallas Winston in the movie “The Outsiders”). 

Smoking and juuling, in my opinion, makes you look immature and irresponsible (in regards to those who smoke or juul, while underage, especially). 

I get that people who are 30 and older never really had as much concern about smoking, and I get that they’re used to smoking without all the modern knowledge on how it can affect their health. With that being said, I don’t so much have a problem with older people smoking, just because they’ve been doing it for so long. But I have a problem when teenagers think that they can smoke or juul and not deal with the consequences. 

What irks me the most, is when people under the legal age limit of purchasing tobacco products, purchase tobacco products. 

I understand that the original legal age was 18, but now that it’s changed to 21, that means that you are no longer of legal age to buy tobacco products; therefore, you shouldn’t be buying them. 

When people under the legal age are smoking and juuling, that really makes them less appealing, and I begin to lose respect for them. 

I understand the whole “experimenting” aspect of trying new things, because, well, we’re teenagers and we’re easily influenced and curious. It’s not unusual for teens to experiment with smoking or juuling. However, it is very unhealthy. It saddens me when I see so many teens smoking and juuling. 

It saddens me even more when I see how much potential some of these teens had, and yet, they end up throwing it all away because of their addiction and fixation on smoking and juuling. 

I don’t think our generation has a good understanding on what the risks are, in regards to smoking and juuling. Let me give some information on the negative effects that smoking and juuling can have on people, especially younger people (as in teens). 

An article published on Heart.org states that, “There are more than 5,000 chemical components found in cigarette smoke and hundreds of them are harmful to human health, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.” 

Additionally, according to an article published on American Cancer Society, smoking can cause damage to the airways and small air sacs in the lungs. They also claim that the damage will begin early in smokers, and that lung function will progressively worsen the longer a person smokes. If a person has pneumonia or asthma, smoking can cause those respiratory issues to worsen. Not only that, but smoking also “causes many other lung diseases that can be nearly as bad as lung cancer”. 

Now, in regards to juuling, an article published on news.psu.edu states that “most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, an addictive substance that can negatively impact adolescent brain development. One Juul pod contains as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes.” The article also reports that “Studies have found toxic chemicals such as formaldehyde and an antifreeze ingredient in e-cigarettes.” Furthermore, the article sheds light on the idea that the exhaled smoke from e-cigarettes also contain carcinogens and poses a risk to those near it.

If none of that information startled you, or made you rethink your choices, then I fear for you. 

Smoking and juuling especially poses a great threat for those in athletics. Just think about this for a second–say you are an athlete who plans to pursue a possible career in sports, or possibly play in college. Let’s say that you also smoke or juul. Knowing that damage starts early in a smoker’s or juuler’s lungs, imagine if you compound that damage with the constant activity that you’d be putting yourself through. You’ll be pushing your lungs further and making them work harder. 

By smoking or juuling, you could potentially be ending your athletic career or dream, before it’d even start. 

Here’s proof: in an article published on nbcnews.com, it features a guy named Cade Beauparlant. Cade tells his story about how juuling ended his athleticism. He supposedly was very talented in athletics, and he worked hard during his hockey playing years. He said that he’d gotten addicted to juuling by the time he was in 9th grade. Beauparlant goes on to say that within a year of juuling, the effects of his addiction had become evident when he was playing on the ice. 

He admitted that, “I couldn’t stay on the ice for more than a minute and a half before being gassed,” and he continued to elaborate what he meant, by saying, “My lungs couldn’t handle it. I felt like I couldn’t pull enough air into my lungs.”  

So, if you didn’t understand the problem with smoking or juuling, at the beginning of this article, perhaps you are finally able to understand the problem, now. 

So remember, smoking and juuling does not make you ‘tuff’. I repeat, smoking and juuling does not make you ‘tuff’!

The views in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of the GENESIS staff. Email Lyn Jarrell at [email protected].