E-Cigarettes for Kids: Alluring, Addictive & Easy to Get

Students at Boulder Creek High School in Arizona, like kids across the country, have no trouble getting e-cigarette devices or the addictive vape juice pods that are packed with nicotine and other dangerous chemicals—even formaldehyde—and sugar-coated with appealing names like mint, mango and creme.

The most popular brand, Juul, has been targeted by the CDC and the Surgeon General for its kid-friendly flavors and high nicotine content in what the FDA calls an epidemic of youth vaping.

“I can call up anyone I know who is 18 and give him $40 for a Juul and a pack of pods, and if I can, so can any kid who is under 18,” said John, a 17-year-old at the school, in this suburban neighborhood at the northern edge of Phoenix. (John is not his real name — he asked not to be identified).

When I spoke with him in October, John figured about 40 percent of the student body vapes. Another student at the school put the figure higher. “Some kids do it just to fit in,” John told me, “and others do it because they like the buzz.”

FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is well aware.

On March 13, Gottlieb announced a crackdown on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in an effort to tamp down the soaring rate of vaping among young people, including children as young as 11.