Perils of Teenage Vaping: The Urgency to Reverse the Trend

 

Introduction

Teens’ lives are being claimed left and right as the vaping epidemic ensues; how many more deaths are necessary before proper preventative action is taken remains unanswered. Vaping is an increasingly popular e-cigarette that was originally created to curb smoking amongst cigarette users but has since become the gateway smoking device for teenagers and adolescents. The potential health risks are endless: increased risk of developing various cancers, heart disease, brain damage, and perhaps the most common prospect — lung diseases. At one point, vaping companies seemingly targetted their products to teenagers by showing advertisements featuring young people who portrayed vaping as a cool trend.  As the percentage of teenagers using vape products continues to skyrocket, vape companies and state governments’ reactions remain ineffective. In order to subdue the vaping dilemma, large vaping companies must shift their target audience back to smokers who are trying to quit instead of marketing towards kids, state governments must issue legislature that will prevent teenagers and young adults from legally purchasing vape products, and they must both work together to educate the youth on the dangers of vaping. All of this should be done with the deliberate goal of greatly depreciating the number of teens who vape and prevent any further damage to their previously healthy bodies.

 

Background

Vaping consists of using a battery-powered e-cigarette that heats a liquid into vapor with the intent of being inhaled. The liquid, usually in the form of a “pod,” can contain nicotine (a highly addictive drug that is found in tobacco products) and various kinds of flavoring along with other harmful chemicals. Marijuana, hash oil, nicotine, and other substances can be infused into the liquid in pods. 

 

Teenage Vape Usage

In 2018, over 44,000 students participated in an annual survey conducted to decipher the amount of drug, alcohol, and cigarette use of 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. Approximately 37% of 12th grader students reported vaping in 2018, up from 28% in 2017. The majority of teenage vape users claim that they are vaping nicotine products, while others opt for marijuana or hash oil or “just flavoring.” (See Figure 1.)

 

The Damage

E-cigarettes and vape products, originally created to help current smokers wean off of cigarettes and ultimately quit smoking, is backfiring as it acts as a catalyst for teenagers’ newfound smoking addictions. Dr. Richard Miech, a researcher at the University of Michigan, says, “vaping is reversing hard-fought declines in the number of adolescents who use nicotine. These results suggest that vaping is leading youth into nicotine use and nicotine addiction, not away from it.” 

 

“Teens are clearly attracted to the marketable technology and flavorings seen in vaping devices,” the director of News in Health’s (NIH) National Institute on Drug Abuse, Dr. Nora D. Volkow,  signifies. “However, it is urgent that teens understand the possible effects of vaping on overall health, the development of the teen brain, and the potential for addiction.” Health professionals continue to warn that without proper education and awareness, teenage vape use will continue to flourish.

 

The Lack of Regulation

 

The unfortunate reality with e-cigarettes and e-liquids is that there is currently little to no regulation by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). “None of the e-cigarette products that are currently on the market have had a premarket review,” said Dr. Susan Walley, a professor of pediatrics at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. “And that’s largely because of the failure of the FDA to initiate that.”

 

Premarket approval (PMA) is a review done by the FDA, who is responsible for overseeing tobacco products, to assess the safety and effectiveness of certain medical devices. E-cigarettes fall under the category of medical devices as that is what they were claimed to be when they were initially introduced. In order to obtain marketing approval, these devices must submit a PMA application — as stated in section 515 of the FD&C Act.

 

Proposed FDA Guidelines

• Limit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes in brick-and-mortar shops to age-restricted vendors or restricting sales to areas that can only be entered by people who are 18 or older.
• Incorporate “heightened age verification processes” to strengthen the enforcement of e-cigarette products sold online.
• Prioritize regulations that will prevent the sale of flavored tobacco products and e-cigarettes targeted towards minors and teenagers. 

The Lack of Education

Education is lacking significantly as many students are not aware of the contents of vapes. Patricia Folan, RN, CNP, director of the Center for Tobacco Control at Northwell Health in Great Neck, NY, warns that “nicotine is often an ingredient found in vape products, even though the user may not be aware of it (because) e-cigarette and vaping products do not have ingredient labels.” As a result, it is imperative that there is increased regulation for these products to notify users, particularly teenagers who have likely never smoked conventional cigarettes so that they can make more informed decisions when it comes to vaping. A proposed FDA guideline is to make the nicotine content more apparent or obvious to prevent unintended usage.

 

 

 

*This is a very rough draft — I was not able to complete the full 6-8 pages within the time allotted, so I will certainly be adding a lot more content. What kind of other information do you think that I should include? I have already chosen 3 graphs and created one of my own, but due to formatting issues, I could not display them on the blog page. What do we think of the title now that I have made it more specific? Still needs editing or is it better now? And of course, I am also still working on a conclusion, but it will ultimately state that both the federal/state governments as well as the companies that are creating these vape products must work together to resolve the issue that is teenage vaping.