If you’ve taken a walk around campus recently, you’ve likely seen students Juuling, a new smoking phenomenon popular at schools around the nation. Students Juul on public sidewalks, in dorm rooms, in bathrooms, at parties and even during class. However, Juulers may not fully understand the negative health and monetary effects the nicotine-based product can have.

A Juul is an electronic cigarette famous for its sleek, portable design, which resembles a USB flash drive. The Juul e-cigarette heats up a nicotine cartridge, called a JuulPod, which comes in appealing flavors such as mango, creme brulee and fruit medley. Juuls give off a short, small vapor cloud, which is regarded as safer for second hand inhalation than cigarette smoke, according to Popular Science.

Marquette became a tobacco-free campus in August 2017, banning the use of all tobacco products on university property. The ban includes vape products like Juuls, as vapes are “not only a nicotine product but also produces vapor clouds that affect others,” according to the Marquette University Medical Clinic.  

Juulers can often get around Marquette’s policy while on university property, as the Juul can easily be concealed in the palm of a hand. The Juul’s appearance can fool an unsuspecting eye, who may believe it’s a flash drive. Juuls emit vapor instead of smoke, which limits the risk of a Juul setting off a smoke detector. The vapor clouds can also be smaller and more discreet than many other vape products.

Juul’s website states that the product was started as a way for cigarette smokers to reduce or eliminate their smoking habits. However, each Juul pod contains as much addictive nicotine as one pack of cigarettes, according to Juul’s website. If you smell a student Juuling in a bathroom, it could be the result of a distracting nicotine addiction.

Students may use a Juul when feeling tired, as nicotine is a stimulant that raises your heart rate and ability to pay attention.  If you inhale more nicotine, it can also have a calming effect when feeling anxious.

These short-term benefits don’t outweigh the long-term negative effects nicotine can have on the body. Nicotine raises the risk of heart disease, including bad heart rhythms and heart attacks, according to a 2017 study by a cardiologist at the University of California. Nicotine can also lead to a buildup of plaque in arteries.

Juul’s sale of flavors similar to candy and desserts makes the product desirable for teenage smokers, who may dislike the taste of cigarettes. The addictive nature of Juul’s nicotine and tasty flavors makes it easy to spend large amounts of money on the product. The Juul starter kit is about $50, and each four-pack of JuulPods costs $15.99.

A classmate disclosed they smoke about one pack of JuulPods every two weeks and have been Juuling for the past six months. This means they’ve likely spent around $250 on Juuling, based on the current price of the starter kit and pods. This cost would be difficult for most college students to justify, especially given the price of tuition, textbooks, rent and other necessities.   

The Juuling obsession goes further than Marquette’s campus. The activity has become so popular among middle and high schoolers that the Food and Drug Administration issued a statement last week declaring that teenage use of electronic cigarettes has reached “an epidemic proportion.”

Students thinking about buying Juuls should consider the negative health effects the habit can cause before partaking. They should also understand the risk for Juuling to become a costly activity due to nicotine addiction.