Monfredo: Parents, What Do You Know About Vaping?
Saturday, April 06, 2019
John Monfredo
Just recently Tina Grosowsky, a member of the Worcester Public School Health Advisory Council and project coordinator for the Central Ma Tobacco-Free Community Partnership who works out of the UMASS Medical School spoke at a council meeting about Vaping. She spoke about the dangers of vaping and after having listened to her presentation I filed an agenda item to bring this information to the public.
This is an issue that everyone in the community needs to be aware of for in Massachusetts 41% of High School students have tried vapor products and over 20% are currently using these products. In addition, 10% of Middle School students have tried electronic vapor products.
It is critical that parents, educators, and adults who work with youth understand what these products are and the potential risks of using them. To emphasize the urgency of this issue, the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeff Riley and the Department of Health have started a campaign to alert the public this school year.
According to the research, e-cigarettes are not safe for youth, young adults, pregnant women or adults who do not currently use tobacco products. E-cigarettes contain nicotine which is a highly addictive substance. According to the Surgeon General, because the brain isn’t fully developed until the mid 20’s, youth and young adults are uniquely at risk for long-term, long-lasting effects of exposing their developing brains to nicotine.
These risks include nicotine addiction, mood disorders, and permanent lowering of impulse control. Teens can get addicted more easily than adults. The nicotine in e-cigarettes and other tobacco products can also prime the adolescent brain for addition to other drugs such as cocaine.
In our state, almost 24% of high-school students report currently using e-cigarettes, and nearly half tried them at least once. More high school students used e-cigarettes than all other tobacco products combined, and they used them nine times more often than adults according to research from the GetOutraged.org website.
Here is some advice from people in the field about talking to your child about Vaping… Try having a conversation, not a lecture, and encourage an open dialogue…. You can start by mentioning a news story, a TV show, or something that you heard about vaping. Gets the discussion going… Show some genuine curiosity and ask your child what their take is on vaping. .. Be truthful about what you know about the dangers of vaping and what you don’t know. You can honestly say, “Vaping isn’t harmless. I hope you can steer clear of it.”
The important thing is that talking to your child about vaping will let them know that you’re concerned about their health. Keep in mind that many types of e-cigarettes are made to resemble everyday items and can easily fit in a pocket or the palm of a hand. In addition, they come in fruit and candy-like flavors. For these reasons, it may e hard to tell if your child is vaping. However, here are subtle signs your child might be vaping…
- If you notice a sweet scent that is unexplainable, it might be a flavored e-juice for a vaping device.
- If you come across unusual looking items such as unusual pens or USB drivers, they could be associated with vaping.
- The best way to know is to educate yourself about the products and to talk to your child…. For more information and tips, visit Getoutraged.org. Also, check out the Smokefree Teen website from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services geared toward helping teens quit … tobacco/nitotine.
In summary, like regular tobacco-filled cigarettes, e-cigarettes work to deliver a jolt of nicotine to the brain. But unlike regular cigarettes, they’re battery powered devices. Typically, the battery is activated by the user’s puffing, which, in turn, heats and vaporizes liquid chemicals in the cartridge. The user inhales the resulting vapor, which often is flavored.
Vaping, because of the many flavors, are attractive to kids, warns the American Academy of Pediatrics. And, despite industry claims that the e-cigarettes are intended to help adult smokers move to a tar-free product, health advocates say the devices are creating a new generation of nicotine addicts. It behooves us, as a community, to do all that we can to get the word out about the dangers of Vaping.
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