{"id":7152,"date":"2019-09-25T09:51:57","date_gmt":"2019-09-25T13:51:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/?p=7152"},"modified":"2021-04-23T14:50:34","modified_gmt":"2021-04-23T18:50:34","slug":"behind-the-smoke-screen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/behind-the-smoke-screen\/","title":{"rendered":"Behind the Smoke Screen"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Introduced to the U.S. market in 2007, electronic cigarettes were designed to help smokers kick the habit by gradually reducing their intake of nicotine. But a few years ago, addiction experts like Douglas S. Collier \u201999M began to notice an alarming trend. While the number of middle and high schoolers smoking traditional cigarettes continued to plunge, the percentage of teens smoking e-cigarettes (or \u201cvaping\u201d) was increasing rapidly, and there was evidence that the new cigarettes weren\u2019t as benign as many believed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collier, who worked as a special agent and, later, as a drug demand reduction coordinator and public information officer for the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, is an adjunct professor and director of professional outreach and engagement in Monmouth\u2019s Department of Criminal Justice. To help stem the tide of teen vaping, he\u2019s spent the past three years educating parents and adolescents about its potential dangers in a program he calls \u201cThe Smoke Screen.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How prevalent is vaping among teenagers?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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In my field, we use an educational tool called Monitoring the Future<\/a>, an ongoing study of adolescent behavior, including drug use. The jump in vaping it recorded from 2017 to 2018 was the single biggest annual increase in the use of any drug by teens since 1975, when the study began.[1]<\/a> I can tell you anecdotally that when I talk to kids in high school and middle school and ask them to raise their hands if they or someone very close to them has ever vaped, 98% of the hands go up.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Is it accurate to say that e-cigarettes today are marketed mainly to young people? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Absolutely. Flavors like mango, orange, and bubblegum are deliberately aimed at teens, and vaping is promoted as \u201ccool.\u201d[2]<\/a> It\u2019s also being sold as safer than cigarettes. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What are some of the common misconceptions people have about vaping?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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I call my program \u201cThe Smoke Screen\u201d because those e-devices[3]<\/a> produce a lot of smoke, metaphorically. A couple of years ago, when we saw the uptick in use, vaping was completely unregulated with regard to adolescents. There was no age requirement because, back then, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) didn\u2019t consider the e-cigarette a smoking product.[4]<\/a> And even though the FDA recently required vaping products to carry a black box warning stating that they contain nicotine and that they\u2019re addictive, most adolescents remain uneducated about vaping. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The most common myths among kids and many of their parents are that vaping is harmless\u2014it\u2019s not, especially to young people, whose brains and bodies are still growing\u2014and that e-cigarettes don\u2019t contain nicotine\u2014most of them do. A lot of parents buy e-cigarettes for their kids, and when I ask them why, they say, \u201cAt least it\u2019s better than smoking, right?\u201d What they don\u2019t understand is that vaping is<\/em> smoking. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A lot of parents buy e-cigarettes for their kids, and when I ask them why, they say, \u2018At least it\u2019s better than smoking, right?\u2019 What they don\u2019t understand is that vaping is<\/em> smoking. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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What specific dangers does vaping pose to adolescents?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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As I said, most e-cigarettes contain nicotine. In fact, the vaping system marketed as Juul comes with a pod that contains the same amount of nicotine as a pack of cigarettes, and some of these kids are smoking three to five pods a day. Even when adolescents know that e-cigarettes contain nicotine, they don\u2019t always understand that it can be toxic. A lot of vapes, for instance, come with gauges that allow you to regulate the amount of nicotine they deliver, starting at a higher number and going down to a lower number. Often, kids will say, \u201cGive me the higher number\u2014I can deal with it.\u201d Nicotine, of course, is addictive, but too much of it can also cause headaches, nausea, increased blood pressure, and tachycardia, a rapid heartbeat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s not just nicotine: E-cigarettes contain unregulated flavors and other substances\u2014usually either propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, which help disperse the vapor\u2014and diacetyl, a chemical flavor enhancer, all of which may affect the lungs.[5]<\/a> Another danger is that so-called \u201copen-container\u201d vapes can be customized with the addition of contraband like butane hash oil, flakka, and MDMA, all of which we\u2019re now seeing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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For parents who are concerned that their kids may be vaping, are there any signs they should be aware of? <\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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There are many signs. One is scent: Because kids tend to use the flavored vapes, they may smell like mango, orange, cherry, or bubblegum. Another involves the devices themselves: They often look like pens or USB drives\u2014you actually charge the Juul in your computer, so keep in mind that a pen isn\u2019t always a pen. Then there\u2019s excessive thirst. Propylene glycol is hygroscopic, which means it attracts moisture; it dries out the mouth and the nasal passages. If young people suddenly complain of dry mouth or start sipping water constantly, or if they suffer from nosebleeds, they could be vaping. Another sign is reduced consumption of caffeine. Teens who normally drink coffee or energy drinks like Red Bull may cut back on them because caffeine can intensify the headaches and nausea caused by nicotine. Look out, too, for unrecognized charges on your Amazon or other internet account. A lot of vapes and the e-liquids that go into them are sold over the internet, but the charges don\u2019t always identify the products ordered.[6]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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What should parents do if they know or suspect that their child is vaping?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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It\u2019s important to have an open conversation about the perception of vaping versus the reality. The perception among teens is that it\u2019s not a big deal\u2014they may tell you that lots of their friends are doing it and a few are even getting it from their parents. So the job of a parent is to discuss the perception and then the reality: that there\u2019s nicotine in e-cigarettes, that nicotine carries health risks and is addictive, and that there are other substances in e-cigarettes that can be toxic. The idea is to arm teens with accurate information so that they can make an informed decision.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Is there a role for schools in this?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Unfortunately, the schools are being reactive right now because vaping wasn\u2019t on their radar screen\u2014it came on so quickly, especially in middle schools.I\u2019m doing a lot of outreach with the schools, including parent presentations and student presentations. The role of schools should be to facilitate this kind of education, so kids understand the risks of vaping. When I\u2019m done talking to these kids, I put up a slide that asks \u201cE-cigarettes: Safe?\u201d The majority get it. They tell me: \u201cI didn\u2019t know.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Notes<\/h3>\n\n\n

1. According to Monitoring the Future, between 2017 and 2018, vaping increased by 17.6% among eighth graders, 32.3% among tenth graders, and 37.3% among twelfth graders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. In a 2018 study, researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention concluded that Juul was largely responsible for the steep rise in teen vaping, stating, \u201cJuul\u2019s high nicotine concentration, discreet shape, and flavors could be particularly appealing to, and problematic for, youths.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Most so-called \u201cvapes\u201d consist of a mouthpiece, a container for the e-liquid (usually comprising, among other things, flavors; synthetic substances like propylene glycol, or the oil derivative known as vegetable glycerin and diacetyl; plus nicotine), and a battery-powered heating element that turns the liquid into inhalable vapor. \u201cOpen-container\u201d vapes must be filled manually with e-liquid; \u201cclosed-container\u201d vapes, like Juul, are sold with prefilled (and closed) pods. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. As of August 2019, nine states, including New Jersey, have passed laws restricting the sale of e-cigarettes to those 21 and older.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Propylene glycol (PG) is a synthetic liquid used in cosmetics, medicines, and food products and in the manufacture of polyesters and deicers. The FDA has classified it as \u201cgenerally recognized as safe\u201d when ingested, but there is no FDA judgment as to its safety when inhaled. There are indications that inhalation of PG may contribute to \u201cwet lung,\u201d a serious inflammation that causes scarring and symptoms similar to those of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Animal studies have found that inhalation of diacetyl can damage the airways, and the CDC notes that airborne diacetyl likely contributed to lung disease in workers at a microwave popcorn manufacturing facility (hence the name \u201cpopcorn lung\u201d). <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. None of these signs guarantees that a child is vaping,\nsays Collier. Parents should be aware of their child\u2019s baseline behavior and\nwatch out for deviations. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Teen vaping is on the rise. Here\u2019s what every parent needs to know. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":60,"featured_media":7217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"image_focus":"","hide_title":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-currents"],"thumbnail":"\"\"","catString":"Currents","issue":"Fall 2019","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/60"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7152"}],"version-history":[{"count":38,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7274,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7152\/revisions\/7274"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.monmouth.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}