The promise of vaping has been eclipsed by the damage inflicted on youths
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Version 0 of 1. A GENERATION’S solid progress in reducing tobacco use by youths is being reversed, with new and dangerous twists. Teen smoking in the United States declined by more than 70 percent between 2000 and 2018, but now the use of e-cigarettes such as Juul is surging, bringing back nicotine as a health threat along with risky bootleg marijuana products. The original promise of vaping, that it could help adults ease off combustible tobacco, is being eclipsed by the damage being inflicted on young people. The status quo is unacceptable. Nicotine, highly addictive, has a deleterious effect on young people’s developing brains — exposure can reduce attention, learning and memory. Lung disease associated with contaminated vaping products has killed 54 people and hospitalized 2,506 others, many of them teens and young adults who vaped with THC, an ingredient in marijuana largely obtained on the black market. Thus, the nation should be alarmed at the report of the 45th annual Monitoring the Future survey, a nationally representative sample of eighth-, 10th- and 12th-graders in hundreds of U.S. schools, carried out by the University of Michigan. The study found that a surge in teen marijuana vaping from 2018 to 2019 ranked among the largest single-year increases observed in the history of the survey. This year, the percentage of adolescents who had vaped marijuana in the previous 12 months was 21 percent in 12th grade, 19 percent in 10th grade and 7 percent in eighth grade. The increases in the past two years include by 7.7 percent among 12th-graders, the second-highest jump ever — the highest was last year, at 10.9 percent — and similar shocking increases for younger children. According to the research, “for all secondary students the increases in marijuana vaping translate into at least one million additional marijuana vapers in 2019 as compared to 2018.” Teen nicotine vaping also surged: More than a third of 12th-graders had vaped nicotine in the past year, up 5.6 percentage points from 2018; in 10th grade, that figure was 31 percent of students, up 6.1 percentage points. The reasons were succinctly identified by David Hammond, a public-health professor at the University of Waterloo, who told The Post, “It’s super convenient. It sits there in your pocket. It’s ready to go as soon as you take a puff. It doesn’t smell. It’s very portable.” But the devices also can deliver a wallop — a Juul pod can contain as much nicotine as a pack of 20 cigarettes. Adolescents aren’t supposed to have these products by law, but they are getting them. Congress this week voted to raise the federal smoking age to 21, a first step but one that’s far from sufficient. Experts have warned that a new generation of nicotine addicts may be forming now at a young age; untold millions may also suffer impaired brain development. With such headway in snuffing out the scourge of tobacco smoking among teens, it is maddening to see the nicotine threat return. Across the board, far more restricted access is called for to stop the vapor from reaching the lips of adolescents. Read more: The Post’s View: Outlawing flavored vaping likely wouldn’t kill the demand for e-cigarettes, but it’s a start David Von Drehle: This vape craze should never have been allowed to happen Scott Gottlieb: This is what the Trump administration should do on vaping Robert Gebelhoff: The e-cigarette hysteria is getting out of hand Fred Hiatt: We failed on tobacco and opioids. Can we get it right on vaping? |