It's Time to Address the Vaping Epidemic
Vaping, the practice of inhaling aerosol from electronic cigarettes, is rampant in schools. An estimated 3.6 million American middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in the past thirty days, according to a recent report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2018, one in five high schoolers reported vaping in the past month—up from about one in 100 in 2011—and the numbers are rising. The U.S. Surgeon General and the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration have called e-cigarette use among youth an “epidemic.”
E-cigarettes are electronic devices that heat pods of liquid containing nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals to produce an aerosol that can be inhaled. Many look like sleek pens and USB drives, making them easy to conceal at school and at home.
Teenagers view vaping as a safe alternative to cigarette smoking, but that’s a dangerous misconception. A single pod from Juul, the largest maker of these devices, can contain as much highly addictive nicotine as twenty cigarettes. Nicotine can adversely affect adolescent brain development, which continues until young adults are in their mid-twenties and can decrease impulse control. It is also associated with mood, attention, and learning problems in adolescents, as well as with heart attack risk.