Teens using vapes are causing harm to children 5 and younger
There is a concern from the Ohio Department of Health with the increase of vape use among teenagers leading to exposures on even younger children.
In the U.S., teens and adults are buying roughly 12 million disposable vapes each month.
Children ages 5 and younger are becoming ill and getting injured from exposure to e-cigarettes.
When liquid nicotine is absorbed by swallowing or spilled on the skin from young children playing and putting it in their mouths, the ODH said small symptoms such as nausea or vomiting can develop. More serious symptoms can develop impacting heart rate, blood pressure and causing seizures.
Since 2015, 1,762 liquid vape exposures have been reported. More than 70% involved children ages 5 and younger, Sarah Donaldson of the Statehouse News Bureau said.
ODH Director Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff said in a press conference he wants to raise the alarm that the liquids in e-cigarettes or vaping devices are an increasing risk to young children. He said the liquid can contain nicotine, and also THC, CBD, flavors, or some combination of those.
E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth, the ODH said. Youth are more likely to use e-cigarettes than adults in the United States.
“These products are obviously very bad and we need to keep them out of the hands of kids,” said Dustin Holfinger, state government relations director for the American Heart Association. “If you’re an adult, I don’t want you to use them, but you do have that ability to use them.”
The ODH also said the number of vape liquid exposures reported to Ohio Poison Centers has nearly tripled, from 130 in 2015 to 360 in 2022. Through September 2023 data showed 328 exposures reported.
The main focus for the age group to reduce the use is high school, said Ali Selva, health educator of the Portage County Health District.
The way it started was for teenagers to look cool or fit in with their friends in high school, Holfinger said.
“It’s a flavor that they like, it’s not a cigarette. A cigarette gives you a bad taste in your mouth,” Holfinger said. “With these vapes they’re delicious, they have flavors like blue raspberry which makes me think of sour patch kids, which are good. They’re marketing them that way.”
Vape shops like Kings of Vapor, 3305 Center Road, Brunswick, OH, consist of plenty of products to choose from making it a want more than a need, Kings of Vapor store manager Lily Gabehart said.
“The products are made to get people to quit smoking,” Gabehart claimed. “The name of our flavors come from ideas from our higher up management. They’re flavored this way to make it obviously smell and taste good. We don’t try to target teenagers, but they do buy them.”
Living in North Royalton, OH, just 15 minutes from Brunswick is 22-year-old Kenny Toro who has been vaping since his sophomore year of high school.
“My friend had bought one and we were heading to a party. He told me to hit it and I gave in,” he said. “I didn’t realize what the point was, but it felt good, and the flavors had influenced me to keep vaping. It tastes so good.”
Another Kings of Vapor shop is located in Kent, 1154 W Main St, Kent, OH and another vape shop in Kent called Puff N Stuff is located, 423 E Main St, Kent, OH.
“Our general target audience has always been everyone that lives in Kent because we sell more products than just nicotine. We carry stuff like band shirts and posters,” Puff N Stuff store manager Jae Lerer said. “I’ve been a smoker for 15 years and then I vaped for 10 years. I still think vaping is better than straight up smoking cigarettes.”
Not enough research has been done with e-cigarettes, leaving people to not know what might happen in the future, Kent City Health Department accreditation coordinator Jalessa Caples said.
Cigarettes have a smell that can linger even after smoking. With e-cigarettes, the smell is fruity and appealing to most people and doesn’t linger. E-cigarettes are easily concealed, leaving no one to notice that someone has one.
The Kent City Health Department is working to increase awareness among children of the dangers of tobacco products.
Pushing the awareness to kids as early as possible to prevent e-cigarette use is the goal for Caples.
A tobacco retail ordinance was passed by the Kent City Health Department where there’s a limit on the number of vape shops in the city. Caples said the max limit is 22 but they have 26 grandfathered in. If they ever end up going out of business, they won’t be replaced by new vape shops.
Accessibility to vape shops will go down with the department limiting the number of shops in the city, Caples said.
“It’s really hard, that’s why we’re trying to get it to kids while they’re still young,” sheF said. “When we keep pushing back the ages of when we start talking to kids about vaping and the health effects, it’s harder for them to stop vaping.”
Facts on flavor tobacco:
Click to access Infographic_Flavored-Tobacco_04272020-2-1.pdf
Facts on tobacco and the youth:
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