Research Memo 1

Research Memo #1 Since beginning my research, I have been able to find a lot of statistics regarding the prevalence of Juuls and other e-cigarette usage amongst teens and comparing those statistics to other age groups. Most of my research thus far has supported my suspicious regarding my topic. For example, I was able to find a significant amount of research about how certain chemicals in e-cigarettes potentially harm the developing body. However, as the week progresses, I hope to find more research that deeply explains the physical effects, which is difficult considering the research is very limited. This week, because I haven’t been able to really dive into how the government fails to address this growing popularity, I want to spend more time looking at the political involvement. I was able to uncover the FDA’s lack of involvement, and the lawsuit against the agency, but I hope to find more research on this issue to better explain and understand why the FDA is failing at their job. Currently, my essential question has evolved from analyzing the political and physical effects of using e-cigarettes to a more focused interest in analyzing how the political corruption regarding the rise of e-cigarettes physically affect the youth and their future. This adjustment to my question allows me to present a more beneficial capstone in order to better educate the importance and the future of this issue. Also, this connection allows me to better narrow my capstone from two very broad topics into one. Through my research thus far, the statistics that help answer my question will mostly be the research that analyzes the actions the government has taken or lack thereof. This will help me address what potential future implications may occur as a result. Generally, I’ve found that the government has been not taking this issue as seriously as they should have, and many e-cigarette companies, especially Juul labs has been able to get away with a lot. My research that I have conducted will first help me prove that vaping is an epidemic amongst the youth population because 3.6 million middle and high school students have reported to use ecigarettes in 2018, which is a 50% increase from the year before. Juul sales have increased by 300% in 2018, but teenagers are 16 times more likely to Juul. This week, I need to investigate further into the lawsuits against Juul Labs and the FDA because while the FDA has announced that vaping is becoming an increasing issue for teens, only banning flavors has been proven to be too little of a step for many health organizations, parents, and students. By learning and researching about these lawsuits, I can better understand how the higher up is failing their job, what that will mean for teens, and how that could future impact Generation Z. Right now, I need to adjust my research to focus more on the politics of e-cigarette companies, specifically Juul Labs, the actual politics about the government’s involvement. I feel as though I have a sufficient amount of research supporting my claim that vaping is an youth nicotine epidemic, so I need to shift gears and start researching a different aspect of my essential question. Also, I need to start searching deeper for more research that can address how vaping can impact a teen’s health. I recognize that it will be difficult to find how it will affect teens in 510 years, however, through my research I can hopefully predict what the immediate health impacts can turn into in the future.