Florida teen quits vaping after long journey to battle addiction

Florida teen quits vaping after long journey

Jaylon Robinson has now spent one full year clean. He smashed his last vape on Feb. 1, 2023. It’s been a long year, but he’s come a long way.

VOLUSIA COUNTY - Jaylon Robinson has now spent one full year clean. He smashed his last vape on Feb. 1, 2023.

"I'm really proud of myself," Jaylon told FOX 35. "And there's been a few people that have seen the things that I've done, and one of my friends said that he quit because of it. And, you know, that was cool."

It’s been a long year, but he’s come a long way.

Jaylon had to be pulled out of school and go on patches for a bit after he first quit. He says he had headaches and mood swings for a while. However, his mom, Courtney, says once he made it through that first stint, things got much better. He could breathe more easily, and he got closer to his family again. She says he’d pulled away from his family while he was vaping in secret.

"He has stayed strong," Courtney said. "He has helped people through him quitting, and he's very proud of himself, which I know makes him feel really good too. So I'm just so, so happy and so proud of him."

In the meantime, Jaylon and Courtney have taken up some advocacy work. They want school policies and laws changed.

"I feel like if the school were to crack down and offer support for these kids, it would make a big difference in a lot of kids' lives," Courtney said.

The Volusia County School Board updated its student code of conduct this year to say vaping is prohibited, and you can be suspended or even expelled if you’re caught with one. Right now, there are bills working their way through Florida’s House and Senate that would crack down on vape manufacturers and retailers who don’t meet state standards.

The e-cigarette company Juul sent the Florida House of Representatives a letter supporting those bills. Stefanie Miller, Juul’s Head of Government Affairs, says that’s partially because Juul wants to protect consumers who use the products and partially because they want to keep the products away from kids.

"We don't know what's in the illegal products," said Miller. "Some of them may be manufactured fine, and some of them may not."

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Miller says Juul is FDA-regulated but that seven out of ten vapes on the market are not.

She says Juul has never claimed their products are healthy. They’re only saying they’re less harmful than cigarettes. Puff for puff that is true, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Heart Association (AHA).

"No nicotine product is safe," explained Miller. "We don't want anyone to use our product who isn't already a smoker, but certainly not youth."

The problem is that it isn’t just smokers who start vaping. Volusia County’s School Board says one out of six kids in its middle and high schools use vapes.

"Cigarettes are bad enough. You can't convince me that vapes are not worse," Courtney Robinson told FOX 35 News.

Juul has made changes to quit marketing to kids. Their packaging is straightforward; they don’t advertise on social media or on billboards, and they stopped selling fun fruity flavors, now offering only tobacco or menthol scents.

However, Jaylon says that won’t do much to help people who are already vaping.

"Once you're hooked on it, I don't think you're going to care what flavor you get," the teenager told FOX 35.

Jaylon, who started vaping when he was twelve years old and in the seventh grade, says it doesn't help that products are easy to hide. Some vape pens look just like school supplies, and there are even hoodies that have vapes attached to drawstrings.

Through it all, Jaylon is now proof of hope for anyone struggling with addiction.

"If a 14-year-old can do it, then I think any 20- 30- 40-year-old can," he said.