Have you been hearing a lot about vaping lately?
That’s because it is a trend on the rise in our country. It’s not your typical trend of a new clothing brand or style of tennis shoe, it’s a trend that leads to health dangers and addiction. If you remember when e-cigs first came on the scene you remember how they were marketed to help people quit smoking. So, let’s first take a look at that.
Smoking is a hard habit to kick, and that is due to that tricky chemical called Nicotine. The idea that replacing one delivery method of Nicotine to the body with a different delivery method of Nicotine to the body is not really proving to be a great method to quit smoking. Unfortunately, Nicotine is the chemical that makes quitting so hard, because once your body is addicted and dependent on Nicotine you suffer from withdraw symptoms when you no longer take in that chemical. If you use e-cigs or vape pens to quit smoking, what will you use to quit e-cigs or vape pens?
This new dangerous and addicting trend is especially concerning for our kids. Much like big tobacco markets to kids through candy flavors and brightly colored packaging e-cigs and vapes are following suit. It sounds harmless to them considering the original marketing tactic to “help people quit smoking”, it looks interesting with the candy flavors and bright packaging…not to mention all the YouTube videos showing vape tricks, and it is even made to smell like scents kids are attracted to (like fruity pebbles), and it is very easy to get, as cheap as .99 for a kit.
This all means that as parents, community members, teachers, medical professionals, law enforcement, etc. we all need to come together to teach kids the facts about e-cigs and vaping. First, Nicotine is a drug that is addictive. Nicotine is not relaxing, contrary to what they may have heard, it actually increases heart rate and blood pressure. It can even change insulin levels in the body and lead to heart disease. Second, nicotine is not the only chemical in e-cigs and vapes…. even the ones that claim to not have any Nicotine include other chemicals in the liquid and there is not yet research that shows the short- and long-term health risks of ingesting those chemicals. Other chemicals known to be in e-cigs and vape pens like formaldehyde and heavy metals we already know can cause cancer, or like diacetyl which when inhaled can cause a serious lung disease called popcorn lung. Also, vapes can explode. There have been many instances we have heard of people being seriously injured because of vaping explosions. It is up to all of us to educate our community so that our teens can make healthy and informed decisions.
For more information and resources, please visit us online at www.drugfreecharlottecounty.org or find us on Facebook (Drug Free Charlotte County), Twitter (@DFCCTweets), or Instagram (drugfreecharlottecounty).
by Jen Bernardi, Prevention Programs Coordinator, Drug Free Charlotte County