Editor’s Note: Community Comment is a periodic column in The Mount Airy News featuring commentary from community leaders in Mount Airy and Surry County. This particular column is part of a monthly series on drug abuse prevention and treatment.
Less than 4% of high school seniors reported daily tobacco smoking 2020, hardly a fifth of where that figure was 20 years ago. It is a downward trend representing one of the most successful public health campaigns ever waged. But it comes alongside another trend, one in which many experts see tobacco’s disturbing reflection — vaping.
Vaping refers to using an electronic (e-) cigarette or other device that may contain toxic chemicals and nicotine. A battery heats the solution, which is typically a kid-friendly flavoring, and users inhale the resulting “vapor,” which is an aerosol. It can also be used to inhale THC, the compound in marijuana that creates a high. Vaping is now extremely prevalent in teens, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In 2021, more than 2 million youth used e-cigarettes.
Teens who vape are more likely to use other substances, including marijuana, opioids, and alcohol (National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2018) and five times more likely to test positive for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) (Gaiha, Cheng, & Halpern-Flesher, 2020). In addition, as of February 2020, more than 2,800 cases of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury in the United States were reported to the CDC, with 68 confirmed deaths (Ellington et al., 2020)
Adolescents frequently have misperceptions about e-cigarettes. Studies report that most adolescents are familiar with e-cigarettes but are unaware of their health risks and perceive them to be safe (Rohde et al., 2018). For example, most e-cigarettes and vaping products contain nicotine. Teens do not realize that one cartridge, or pod, contains almost the same amount of nicotine as 1.5 packs of regular cigarettes.
The teenage brain is especially vulnerable to nicotine because developmental growth is incomplete, and exposure during this time can have lasting effects. Teens who use nicotine are at risk for lower cognitive function, shorter attention spans, increased impulsivity, depression, and anxiety.
So, why are vapes so controversial? If they are so bad for our youth, then why not just ban them? The answer lies in the materials that start out in the vaping device, which aren’t initially considered harmful. Once you cook these materials however, a chemical transformation occurs. The result is a mix of potentially toxic chemicals including aldehydes, like formaldehyde, which are extremely toxic to the lungs and body. Researchers estimate that there can be as many as 50 new chemicals produced during vaping. Due to the novelty of vaping, some chemicals have yet to be identified.
In the next part of this series on vaping, we will discuss why vaping is so appealing to teens and how parents can help prevent their children from vaping. This is part of the familiar program “Talk. They Hear You,” which helps parents learn to talk to their kids about substance use on a continuous basis. If you, or someone you know, would benefit from learning more about the dangers of vaping, please contact Charlotte Reeves, Surry County Office of Substance Abuse Recovery Community Outreach Coordinator, at reevesc@co.surry.nc.us. Visit our website at surrycountycares.com for more information about substance use disorder and the many resources in our County.
Source: https://www.mtairynews.com
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