Much attention has been given to the emerging trend of e-cigarettes in our society, particularly the product Juul and its growing popularity among teens. Not only is this gaining nationwide attention, but groups like the Tobacco Free Partnership and the Quit Doc Foundation are studying and researching the trends and advocating to change the statistics.
In Indian River County we are fortunate to have a local Tobacco Free Partnership. Leslie Spurlock, the Community Health Advocate for Quit Doc Foundation, is tireless in her efforts to spread the word about the dangers, assist with surveillance of local trends and advocate local, state and national representatives to reduce the trends and sales.
According to the CATCH Foundation, Nicotine has been proven to be an addictive substance with only heroin being more addictive. Nicotine rewires the brain of teens and puts them at risk of developing addictions to other substances in the future. In other words, nicotine can be considered a “gateway drug” and can lead to the use of other tobacco, marijuana, or even stronger substances.
There are many types of e-cigarettes on the market, however, JUUL e-cigarettes have recently emerged as the most popular. They are slim, portable and recharge by plugging into a USB device. They contain 0.5mg of nicotine compared to a typical cigarette of 0.3mg and have about 200 puffs per refill. The liquids that are vaped are flavored and also contain substances to make them have a vapor. Some of these substances have been linked to cancer or other serious medical conditions.
A huge concern about JUUL is its marketing. They claim to be for adults looking to quit smoking but the messages are clearly different with youthful young adults teens in the advertising. A very powerful study published in Bloomberg in March 2018 by the Dartmouth Institute of Health Policy showed that “e-cigarettes breed 81 times more smokers than quitters” so clearly e-cigarettes are not reducing tobacco use in the United States.
Teens surveyed in a research study stated that “JUUL is a lot less addictive than cigarettes” and trends show that among local high school students all other forms of tobacco use has steadily decreased yet e-cigarette use has increased from 5% to 25% of students since 2013 and is even rising among middle school students!
So, what can we do to change this trend? Clearly, the message that teenagers are receiving does not match the research. These products are indeed addictive and dangerous, perhaps more than we even know, and can lead to a lifetime of tobacco use. Educate yourself about the real dangers, not what the marketing says, and spread the word to users and elected officials. Fortunately, a constitutional amendment that passed in November in Florida will go into effect no later than July 2019 and that will prohibit vaping anywhere that tobacco products are already prohibited. Finally, the Tobacco Free Partnership is open to anyone concerned about youth tobacco use and environmental tobacco control policies. Please contact them at [email protected], phone: 772-577-3701 or www.tfp-indianriver.org. Special thanks to Leslie Spurlock for her assistance with this article.