WEEK 1
Vaping has become one of the most popular means of smoking especially among teens. A recent study shows a dramatic increase in vaping in 2018 when compared to 2017(from 28% to 37%) among high school children(NIH,2019).It looks safe and lots of teens are jumping on the bandwagon of this trend but with very little education. Majority of them think that it is just a harmless steam and flavor. It is quite a misconception, where in fact one Juul pod contains as much nicotine as one whole packet of cigarettes. Vaping is easy to hide since it does not leave the divulging scent as that of tobacco and its harmful effect of addiction. It may seem jovial in the beginning stages but can eventually turn into an addictive and destructive habit. It contains carcinogenic ingredients such as lead, tin and solvents. It can cause severe lung injuries which can become life threatening. Sweet flavors cannot hide the danger behind vaping.
Vaping is a serious public health issue which needs to be addressed at the earliest. It is vital for me to address this major issue , especially as an Arizonian who has teenage children and also as a health professional in training who wants my community to be healthy. As a mental health provider in training, I think it is necessary to look into the root cause of vaping as well. It may be depression or stress that leads teens to such harmful addictions. Educators are saying that some students wouldn’t drink any liquid during school day so they wouldn’t have to use the bathroom fearing that someone would be vaping and they would be suspected. Teenagers think smoking cigarettes is extremely distasteful but do not understand that vaping, although considered trendy with enticing & numerous flavors, is even more dangerous than smoking a cigarette. Fortunately many authoritative entities like lawmakers are pushing and making an effort to treat vaping products as tobacco and to raise the legal age of tobacco smoking to 21. Opportunities for such policies and legislation need to be enacted in order to protect this generation and the ones to come. Children are like buds in a garden and should be carefully and lovingly nurtured, as they are the future of this nation.
E-cigarette manufacturers have had the opportunity since 2007 to apply to the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research or its Center for Devices and Radiological Health for clearance of e-cigarettes for therapeutic purposes, such as potential use for smoking cessation (U.S.NEWS, 2019).
Sen. Heather Carter announced that she’ll once again push a measure to raise the legal age at which someone is allowed to smoke tobacco to 21. And by amending state law to treat vaping products like tobacco, the same legal age would apply to vaping products, which educators say have become dangerously popular among school-age children.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2020). Outbreak of lung injury associated with the use of e-cigarattes, or vaping products. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html
Shmerling, R. H.(2019).Can vaping damage your lungs? Retrieved from https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/can-vaping-damage-your-lungs-what-we-do-and-dont-know-2019090417734
Vaping rises among teens (2019). Retrieved from https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2019/02/vaping-rises-among-teens
Vaping and e-cigarattes: The new public health problem (2019). Retrieved from https://www.usnews.com/news/healthiest-communities/articles/2019-09-30/vaping-and-e-cigarettes-a-new-public-health-problem
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