Vaping use up among teenagers
Published 7:00 pm Tuesday, November 5, 2019
Despite a nationwide push cracking down on flavored vaping products, interest only seems to be growing among Louisiana’s middle and high school students.
A new survey by the Louisiana Campaign for Tobacco-Free Living found the number of students in the Bayou State who said they used vape products has doubled since 2017.
The survey shows that in 2019, about 32 percent of high school students and 15 percent of middle school students in Louisiana reported vaping more than once, according to The Times-Picayune/The New Orleans Advocate.
About one in four middle school students and half of high school students said they have tried vaping, the survey found.
Certainly, given all that’s been done to successfully combat teenage smoking, the survey is reason for concern because it suggests a new generation is getting hooked on nicotine.
Though e-cigarette purchases are limited to those 18 and older, a large portion of the Louisiana students surveyed who vaped said they bought the devices from friends.
Unveiled at roughly the same time as the iPhone, e-cigarettes went from a niche product to a $7 billion industry. As an alternative to traditional cigarettes, they were intended to reduce smoking deaths. As youth vaping skyrockets and mysterious lung illnesses continue to mount, they are quickly becoming public health enemy No. 1.
Twenty-nine cases of vaping-related illness have been reported to the Louisiana Department of Health. The people involved ranged in age from 17 to 71, with a median age of 28. Over half said they used a mixture of nicotine and THC, the psychoactive compound in marijuana, in their e-cigarettes, while 21 percent reported using just nicotine.
Nationally, 1,604 cases of lung injury from e-cigarette use have been reported across 49 states, with 34 deaths confirmed, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
It’s time to have a frank talk with your teenager about smoking and vaping. It’s a conversation that could save their health from long-term damage.
A new hotline has also been launched specifically for teens who want to quit smoking or stop using vaping products. The hotline is 855-891-9989.
While vaping e-cigarettes may be an alternative for people hooked on traditional cigarettes, the best choice is no cigarettes at all.
