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‘Vaping’ and ‘Dripping’ may be causing a spike in teen tobacco use

Ella Abbott 0 Comments

Electronic cigarettes lead in use among tobacco products with a 900 percent increase in smoking among youths over a four year period.

“Middle school and high school students, both of them show an increase,” said Mandy Burkett, the director of the tobacco programs for the Ohio Health Department. “The increase is much higher in the high school population than it is in the middle school. We are concerned about the increase in both.”

Justin Smith,  the director of environmental health for the City of Kent Health Department, said the problem needs to be addressed in the home and in schools.

George Joseph, superintendent of Kent city schools.

[pullquote]“The best things you can do if you have kids of your own is to lead by example” – Justin Smith[/pullquote]

“One of the things our community works towards is keeping them away from schools,” Smith said. “The best things you can do if you have kids of your own is to lead by example and statistically I think at least two-thirds of the users of e-cigarettes have parents or guardians who also use tobacco products.”

George Joseph, the superintendent of Kent City Schools, also emphasized the impact of adults who smoke around campus.

“I do notice that parents sometimes don’t follow the (non-smoking) rule,” Joseph said. “Students do, but parents don’t.”

Joseph said he’s run into an issue with parents from other school districts who come onto the campuses for sporting events and don’t know or follow the school’s non-smoking policy. He also said he hasn’t seen an increase in disciplinary action due to students smoking, but that they do have students who smoke at home.

“Even though they’re not smoking on campus, they do have a smoke smell,” Joseph said. “We do try to encourage them not to do that, because it’s bad for your health.”

 

Burkett explained that on undeveloped brains, nicotine products like cigarettes and e-cigarettes can create a pathway to addiction as the person matures.

“Nicotine itself, can also can harm brain development in ways that affect health and mental health,” Burkett said. “So those are the major health effects we try to emphasize with these tobacco and e-cigarettes.”

 

In 1971, the Public Health Smoking Act went into effect banning advertisements for cigarettes on television and the radio.

The logo for Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, an advocacy group against youth smoking.

“I grew up with Arab and Joe Camels they were advertising that strictly to the youth,” Smith said.

Currently, there are no restrictions on advertising for e-cigarettes or other vaping devices. Becky Wexler, Director of USA Media Relations for the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, believes that it will be something that the industry will see in the future.

“I do think that that’s (e-cigarette adverts) something the FDA can address in the future,” Wexler said. “For now, we do have some good campaigns that are actively combating (the ads).”

Campaigns like Truth focus their advertising on youth markets to deter them from smoking. In recent years, data has shown a drop in the amount of smokers, but there’s a concern that this

uptick will continue.

The FDA is currently utilizing the same strategy as these anti-smoking campaigns, as they are releasing  advertisements that target the same group: teens. However, the only difference is that these advertisements focus on the dangers of e-cigarettes, Wexler said.

[pullquote]Right now, you know, we’re at record lows for…using cigarettes.” – Becky Wexler[/pullquote]

“Right now, you know, we’re at record lows for the amount of kids, youth and adults that are using cigarettes,” Wexler said. “So, we don’t…, you know, we’re concerned. We don’t want to see that progress threatened.”

 

The National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine, formerly the Institute of Medicine, released a report in 2016 regarding the use of e-cigarettes in youth and adults. The findings concluded that the uses of e-cigarettes differ between youth and adults; in that it may lead youth to start smoking combustible tobacco products and adults to stop smoking altogether.

“All of these products contain nicotine,” Wexler said. “The main concern is that nicotine is harmful to brains that are still developing and teenage brains are still developing.”

Recent government reports, by the Surgeon General in 2016, show that youth are the most common group to use e-cigarettes and are the primary user group of these tobacco products.

“One of the problems I think that really attracts youths to the use of e-cigarettes is the flavors,” Burkett said. “We know that kids start using, smokers . . . the majority of them, over 90%, start smoking before they are 18 or tired their first cigarette.”

 

Burkett went on to say that flavor is a main component in what entices youth to turn to e-cigarettes. This is because youth marketing focuses more on flavor and adults use flavored products much less.

“Another thing that has been very popular is the young adults have developed a habit of something called ‘dripping,’” Smith said. “Where you actually put the actual nicotine, e-cigarette juice, or whatever you’d like to call it on the heating coil directly.”

[pullquote]“We really don’t know enough about (e-cigarettes) to make good decisions.” – Mandy Burkett[/pullquote]

This phenomena of “dripping,” creates a larger cloud of vapor, but also exposes the user to a higher nicotine consumption when they inhale.

Justin Smith, director of environmental health for the City of Kent Health Department.

In some ways, the FDA regulates this market, but not specific products. Companies that create new vaping products, like JUUL, are not required by the FDA to submit an application for their e-cigarette to be marketed and sold until 2021.

“The FDA pushes up the deadline further into the future; so that essentially these products are remaining on the market, which we feel is a problem,” Wexler said.

Burkett said she’s concerned that the continued creation of new products like e-cigarettes leaves the FDA at a disadvantage to be able to properly understand them.

“Certain ones are approved by the FDA and they don’t necessarily approve it, but manufactures have to submit plans to make sure they are consistent with the FDA regulations,” Burkett said.  “We really don’t know enough about (e-cigarettes) to make good decisions.”


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