It was in physical education class when Laila Gutierrez swapped out self-harm for a new vice.
The freshman from Phoenix had long struggled with depression and would cut her arms to feel something. Anything. The first drag from a friend’s vape several years ago offered the shy teenager a new way to escape.
She quit cutting but got hooked on nicotine. Her sadness got harder to carry after her uncle died, and she felt she couldn’t turn to her grieving parents for comfort. Bumming fruity vapes at school became part of her routine.
“I would ask my friends who had them, ‘I’m going through a lot, can I use it?’” Gutierrez, now