The numbers of illnesses and deaths linked to vaping is less than staggering. It pales in comparison to the number of deaths due to traditional smoking and alcohol consumption.
So say the vaping enthusiasts, and they have a point. But their numbers are based on many decades of studying cigarette and alcohol use. We don’t have those numbers for vaping.
Here’s what we do know about vaping: The National Institute on Drug Abuse tells us that 37% of high school seniors report vaping in the last 12 months. Twenty percent report doing it in the last one month. These 2018 figures are way up over the previous year.
It is in this context that President Trump has proposed a ban on flavored e-cigarettes, which are intended by the manufacturer for use by young people. Most young e-cigarette users report having started with flavored e-cigarettes.
We had largely defeated teenage smoking. The latest figures from the Department of Health and Human Services show that traditional cigarette smoking is down under 4% for 12th graders.
I am a public high school teacher with 32 years experience. I strongly suspect this year’s vaping numbers are much higher than last year’s. I see it every day in my classroom. The fidgeting, the jitters, the frequent requests to go to the bathroom. It’s athletes. And it’s honor students.
So what’s the big deal? Well, for one thing these devices do not deliver water vapor. Let’s dispel that myth. They deliver aerosol. This aerosol contains any number of cancer causing and lung disease causing chemicals. Among many other substances produced by vaping devices: propylene glycol, diethylene glycol, glycerol, acetone, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, propanal, diacetin, benzene, arsenic, and triacitine. Particles of tin, sulfur, nickel, aluminum, barium, cobalt, boron, and chromium are found in the aerosol.
Propylene glycol is what you see in the exhaled vapor. It’s not water. Propylene glycol is used in polymers, anti-freeze, and solvents.
While THC cartridges sold on the black market seem to be related to the well-known illnesses attributed to vaping, they are not the only problem. Other illnesses are reported as well. And long term use of nicotine devices is unquestionably unhealthy. Numerous studies indicate that nicotine by itself is a carcinogen. It presents a risk to one’s heart in several different ways. And it increases the chance of stroke significantly.
The amount of nicotine in today’s vaping devices varies widely. A company named Juul started making vape pods a few years ago that were intended to be hidden from parents, teachers, and principals. They resemble flash drives and can actually be charged in USB ports.
Company officials deny marketing to children and promise to change their ways, even as they move their marketing operations into other countries.
Juul pods contain the amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes. Withdrawal symptoms kick in in about 20 minutes. That means students struggle to make it through a 40 minute class. Some kids cannot sleep through the night without waking up to hit on a Juul.
Children are showing up in medical facilities with toxic levels of nicotine in their system. And they are displaying behaviors resembling those of opioid addicts more than tobacco users.
There are no good ways to treat this addiction. Counselors and healthcare providers are frustrated. Gum, lozenges, and patches don’t work, because they don’t deliver the amounts of nicotine that these addicted kids are used to.
Conservatives and libertarians who line up with vaping enthusiasts, vaping companies, and their lobbyists are not doing our children any favors. Trump is right on this one.
No, the numbers don’t compare yet. The World Health Organization says that 100 million people died last century from cigarette smoking. Wouldn’t it be great to go back in time and nip it in the bud? Improve people’s quality of life. Extend the lives of those succumbing to smoking related diseases. John Wayne. My dad. It’s time now to act on vaping among our school kids.
Curtis Hier has taught high school for 32 years. He lives in Fair Haven, Vermont.
