COLUMBUS, Ohio — Officials have expressed concerns about vaping among youth since the devices hit the market.
As children head back to school, officials said this is a good time for parents to talk to their children about vaping.
Many companies have been accused of marketing to kids by using vibrant colors and offering a myriad of flavors. Some recent models now even come with built-in game consoles. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the average age of a person who tries vaping for the first time is 13 years old.
Around 2.1 million children across the United States vape and nearly 90% of them use flavored products. These flavors can range from bubblegum to blue raspberry lemonade. While these flavors sound harmless, experts said they are the catalyst for large doses of nicotine. One study from the Tobacco Control Journal found nicotine strength in disposable e-cigarettes nearly tripled from 2017 to 2022. The CEO of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids Yolanda Richardson said the increase of nicotine coupled with easily disguised products is a recipe for addiction.
“It’s really a commitment on the part of the industry to try to make sure that kids can easily hide these products from detection, both at school and at home,” said Richardson. “This product that I’m showing is a product that has a built-in video game on the back of it. That just definitively shows that these are products that the industry is working overtime to get in the hands of children.”
Along with built-in game consoles, e-cigarettes can look like flash drives, mini calculators and a variety of everyday products. Today’s vapes can contain more nicotine than 10 packs of cigarettes. Richardson said that this problem requires an all-hands-on-deck response.
“It’s a good time for parents as they’re packing up school bags and talking to them about hydrating and, you know, eating healthily, to talk to them about e-cigarettes and to keep the lines of communication open with their kid so that if they have questions, they feel like they have a trusted adult to talk to,” said Richardson.
The U.S. Surgeon General has already claimed that youth use of nicotine, in any form, is unsafe and can heavily impact parts of the brain that are responsible for attention, memory and learning. Experts suggest parents and teachers keep a close eye on any new items your child might bring home from school and do book bag checks at random.