On December 10th, Boulder County has joined a federal lawsuit against JUUL, claiming that the company marketed products to those under 18 years old. 

   According to an article first published by the Daily Camera, in our school and in BVSD, around 1 in 3 people vape. That  means 33% of the student body vapes or has vaped. BVSD has one of the highest percentages of students who vape in the entire country. To put this into proportion, the national average is about 21-25% of students. Vaping has become something that a lot of concerned adults in Boulder have been talking about. 

   In Boulder elections, voters had to decide whether or not to vote on implementing new laws involving vaping. The majority of the voters voted for more restrictive vaping laws. Many regular vapers didn’t think that these new laws would pass, but they underestimated the amount of parents and other adults that would vote in favor of the new laws. 

   The new vaping laws include things such as raising the legal age from 18 to 21, banning all flavored vapes and limiting the amount of vape products that can be sold to someone in a 24 hour period. Will these laws actually reduce the amount of underaged people that vape in Boulder? 

   “I think that these restrictions are the result of good intentions, but I don’t believe that they will be impactful. It is already illegal, but minors gain access to vapes. They might just find new, potentially older sources to get their vape pods,” said sophomore Nimita Ankiredypalli.

   There are so many different flavors of vapes that people can choose from, such as different types of fruit and candy. This is a contributing factor of what makes vaping so addicting. But, the flavor is not the only thing that keeps teens vaping. 

    “I don’t know, maybe in the long run because the people who have it now already have the [flavored vapes] but then when they go to buy it again that might make it more difficult,” said freshman Alexis Vancil. 

   Although the city of Boulder wants the best for teenagers, people are always going to find new ways to get what they want and the new laws may not have as strong an impact as some adults are hoping for. 

   “I don’t think it matters what flavor it is, but rather the idea of defiance in committing the act of vaping,” said Ankiredypalli. “I think that minors will still find a way to access flavored vapes if that is what they truly want, even with the restrictions.” 

   Kim Kennedy is a school nurse who knows a lot of information about substance abuse prevention. Kennedy said that the ban of flavored vapes would most likely decrease the amount of underage kids that vape. 

   “It’s going to make accessibility harder because you have to prove that you’re 21, and taking away flavors, well that’s one of the reasons that people try vaping so I think that both of the laws would be a good deterrent,” said Kennedy.