When looking at teens and drug use, the question has to be asked: How bad is this problem? Drugs are obviously a part of high school, so is vaping really that much different? Isn't it just another minor, self-correcting problem? And these are valid questions. Vaping, health wise, isn't as bad as smoking, or other hard drugs, such as cocaine and heroin. When we look to the issue of vaping, however, we see that the issue of vaping doesn't lie in its effects on one person. It lies in how widespread it is.
To examine this, I created a survey designed to diagnose how serious the vaping epidemic was at Mountain Vista. This survey was designed to be representative for the entire school (population ~ 2400) with an approximate error bound of ±7%, meaning that the results are representative for the entire school within a range of 7% (either higher or lower).
The first question I asked on this survey was simple. It asked "Have you ever vaped or used products similar to 'Juul'". The results are shown below:
The implications of this chart are enormous. What the data indicates is that more than one in every three people use or have used some type of vaping product in their lives. This clearly indicates how monumental of an issue this really is, especially when considering that, nationally, only one in four students have used or use marijuana. The results do not stop there, however. Those who answered yes to having ever used a vaping product, when asked how frequently they vape, revealed the following:
The main statistic to look at here is that 42.1 percent. What this number indicates is that almost half of those who use vaping products use them multiple times during the day. This clearly is the result of nicotine addiction and reliance, which I will cover in a later post. The ultimate lesson to be learned through this, however, is that vaping, while from the outside may not seem like a pressing issue, is an absolute epidemic running through our schools. Kids are being hooked in and either cannot or will not escape. It's clear that something must be done.
TL;DR Examining vaping rates at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, I found that nearly 40% of students have vaped, with 42% of THOSE students using an e-cigarette more than once a day.
-AB
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Russell, Jason. “How Many High Schoolers Smoke Marijuana?” Washington Examiner, Washington Examiner, 20 Apr. 2016, www.washingtonexaminer.com/how-many-high-schoolers-smoke-marijuana.
To examine this, I created a survey designed to diagnose how serious the vaping epidemic was at Mountain Vista. This survey was designed to be representative for the entire school (population ~ 2400) with an approximate error bound of ±7%, meaning that the results are representative for the entire school within a range of 7% (either higher or lower).
The first question I asked on this survey was simple. It asked "Have you ever vaped or used products similar to 'Juul'". The results are shown below:
 |
| As shown, about 62.3% (96 people) have never used a vape product ever in their lives. However, 37.7% (58 people) have used vaping products at least once in their lives. |
The main statistic to look at here is that 42.1 percent. What this number indicates is that almost half of those who use vaping products use them multiple times during the day. This clearly is the result of nicotine addiction and reliance, which I will cover in a later post. The ultimate lesson to be learned through this, however, is that vaping, while from the outside may not seem like a pressing issue, is an absolute epidemic running through our schools. Kids are being hooked in and either cannot or will not escape. It's clear that something must be done.
TL;DR Examining vaping rates at Mountain Vista High School in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, I found that nearly 40% of students have vaped, with 42% of THOSE students using an e-cigarette more than once a day.
-AB
____________________________________________________________________________
Russell, Jason. “How Many High Schoolers Smoke Marijuana?” Washington Examiner, Washington Examiner, 20 Apr. 2016, www.washingtonexaminer.com/how-many-high-schoolers-smoke-marijuana.
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