UC Santa Barbara Student Launches Largest Youth-Led Anti-Vaping Nonprofit in U.S.

Aadhav Rajesh, a current student at UC Santa Barbara, was shocked when, as a high school student, he found out his friend was secretly addicted to vaping. 

“I could see he felt so helpless about it, despite being someone so put together and resolute in his other endeavors,” Rajesh said. 

He couldn’t blame him: Nicotine is as addictive as cocaine and heroin, and vapes often contain even higher concentrations than cigarettes. They’re also marketed to appeal to youth.

Flavored vapes, though technically illegal, are still widely available in many neighborhood vape shops and convenience stores (maybe just not in plain sight). Despite being banned in Santa Barbara County since 2019, fruity, candy-flavored e-cigarettes remain all-too-readily available to teens and young adults.

Concerned for his friend’s well-being and shocked by the high rates of nicotine use among youth, Rajesh launched the Deep Breath Initiative (DBI). It has grown to be the largest youth-led anti-vaping nonprofit in the United States, with 20 university chapters across eight states and counting. 

“Most parents and educators aren’t aware of how much vaping has evolved since the mid-2010s JUUL craze, and current approaches to teen addiction often miss the mark,” Rajesh explained. 

DBI chapters operate peer-led, stigma-free spaces for young people to engage in activities like sports or poetry, offering healthy alternatives to vaping without judgment. Students can take comfort in being in a group of other young people trying to ditch the same addiction. Whatever they do, they’re encouraged to not vape during that period of time. 

“Instead of shaming them into ‘you have to quit this thing,’ we’re introducing people to healthy coping mechanisms,” Rajesh said. 

Rajesh helps lead the chapter at UCSB. While implementation has been challenging because of the school’s infamous party culture, Rajesh said they’ve been able to break through with some students through events like musician meetups. Santa Barbara chapter members are also working on outreach in the local high schools. 

In 2023, according to a study by the California Department of Public Health, about 21 percent of California high school respondents said they had ever used any tobacco product. “Overall, high school respondents reported that it was easy to obtain vapes and cigarettes,” the study states.

Vaping has become overtly normalized, especially online. Youth often refer to them as “nic sticks” on social media, and it’s common to see them referenced in posts. In a 2019 study by Cottage Health, Santa Barbara teens described the “ubiquity” of vaping at school, observing it in classrooms and bathrooms.

“One participant described how her friends have multiple devices stored in various locations, always having them handy in their backpacks, cars, and bedrooms, so that they never have to go without them,” the study says. “Indeed, during a focus group with Latinx youth, discussions arose concerning the feelings of extreme withdrawal when one is unable to vape during a period of craving.”

Flavored vapes and high addiction rates among young people persist due to hard-to-close loopholes, a lack of enforcement and local inspections, and a thriving, stubborn industry. New brands and products continue to flood the market, increasing to more than 200 brands in the past few years, and those brands market thousands of products. 

Locally, Rajesh is educating parents, teachers, and administrators about what vaping looks like so they can begin to address the problem at home and school. Many are not knowledgeable about the many different forms vapes can come in. 

In January, Rajesh and other DBI representatives spoke with California State PTA Board of Managers and members of PTA’s 15th District in Santa Barbara County, and the response was “overwhelmingly positive,” he said. 

PTA members expressed a strong interest in collaborating to get resources directly into parents hands, hosting workshops, and having youth members of DBI speak in classrooms. They discussed proactive steps parents and administrators can take to help students, like monitoring excessive social media usage and creating safe spaces for students to speak about their problems and express themselves without shame. 

Parents were surprised by the evolution of vaping, which has accelerated in the past five years.

The days of the JUUL have been replaced by the reign of disposable Elf Bars and Geek Bars — two very popular vapes — and an increase in students vaping marijuana. 

“Many parents were unaware of how popular and discreet these products have become since JUUL’s popularity, with our meeting being the first time many of them had heard the names Stizzy, Geek Bar, and Elf Bar,” Rajesh said. “They were shocked to learn how widespread their use is among high schoolers.”

While the local school districts don’t track data on vaping in schools, administrators know it’s a problem. “Our first response is to educate students on the dangers of tobacco use, and we partner with community-based organizations to provide that education,” said Santa Barbara Unified spokesperson Ed Zuchelli.

In the coming weeks, DBI is planning to host assemblies with 9th to 11th graders at Santa Barbara High School and San Marcos High School to directly engage students about the vaping epidemic.

To learn more about DBI, visit deepbreathinitiative.org. 

For quitting resources in Santa Barbara County, visit countyofsb.org/1787/Tobacco-Prevention-Program?contentId=409383b2-cf7a-4d18-884b-84236a0f22ff.