By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Many teens have turned to vaping as a healthy alternative to cigarettes, especially with harmless sounding flavors like chocolate, mango tango and “cinna-MMM.” Wood County saw a 17 percent increase in vaping among local high school seniors in a two-year period.
“Vaping is in a honeymoon period right now,” Milan Karna, with the Wood County Educational Service Center, said last year.
But that honeymoon may be over.
As of Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control reported 12 deaths and 805 confirmed cases of lung injury from e-cigarettes.
Twenty people have been hospitalized in Ohio for illnesses confirmed likely to be associated with vaping, according to data released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Health.
“The marketing got ahead of the science,” said Karna, coordinator of the Wood County Prevention Coalition.
Highly addictive nicotine is the primary agent in both regular cigarettes and e-cigarettes.
“The addiction aspect is very real,” Karna said. But yet, the regulations are practically non-existent. “It hasn’t gone through the rigors of scientific testing.”
And although they’ve been marketed as an aid to help people quit smoking, e-cigarettes have not received Food and Drug Administration approval as smoking cessation devices. A recent study found that most people who started using e-cigarettes to kick the nicotine habit ended up continuing to smoke both traditional and e-cigarettes, according to Johns Hopkins University.
“It’s certainly not the safe alternative or helpful for cessation,” Karna said.
“We were in a trajectory of low smoking rates,” he said. “Collectively, we made great progress as a nation prior to these products.”
Then vaping came along.
“We’re sort of at a crossroads right now,” Karna said.
There are three reasons e-cigarettes may be enticing to young people. First, many teens believe vaping is less harmful than smoking. Second, e-cigarettes cost less than traditional cigarettes. And third, vape cartridges often include flavors such as apple pie and watermelon that appeal to younger users. Some states have banned flavored e-cigs.
Both youths and adults find the lack of smoke appealing. With no smell, e-cigarettes reduce the stigma of smoking.
But Karna views the vaping rage as similar to the cigarette craze – before the risks were publicized.
“We are sort of moving back in time,” he said. “It really is a repeat of history.”
And similar to cigarette companies, which used mascots like “Joe Camel,” the cool pool-shooting, cigarette-puffing cartoon character to sell their goods, the vaping producers are promoting their product with thousands of playful flavors.
“It seems pretty clear who they were marketing to,” Karna said.
“I think youth who would never consider cigarettes do vaping,” he said.
On college campuses, the vaping trend is also replacing traditional smoking, Karna said.
“It’s far more prevalent to see someone with an e-cigarette than a cigarette,” he said.
Last year, Bowling Green High School confiscated at least $1,000 worth of vaping paraphernalia, according to Assistant Principal Dan Black. So far this year, no students have been found vaping in school.
But that doesn’t mean the teens aren’t vaping, he added.
“I’m saying a student hasn’t been caught yet this year,” Black said. “It’s only a matter of time.”
The e-cigarettes can fit easily in someone’s hand, and they do not emit a smoky smell.
“It smells like bubblegum,” or whatever flavor is being used, Black said.
In the past, when students wanted to sneak a cigarette, they would go to the restroom, Karna said. Now they can conceal an e-cigarette in their clothing or their lockers. Some shirts are even made with places to hide vaping items in drawstrings, he said.
When student vaping was reported to parents last year, some saw no problem with their teens using e-cigarettes, Black said.
“There was no literature available on the side effects,” he said. “One parent said to me, ‘That’s OK, there’s no nicotine in them.’”
Karna has also heard of parents who were relieved when their teens took up vaping rather than smoking cigarettes.
“I think parents don’t realize the risks,” he said.
Black is hoping teens and their parents are paying attention to the latest health warnings.
“I’d like to think more kids are better educated about the health risks,” he said.
Many schools have consequences in place for vaping. At Bowling Green, the first infraction calls for five days of in-school suspension. The second brings 10 days of in-school suspension, a referral to a course on vaping, and possible recommendation for expulsion. The third offense comes with a recommendation for expulsion.
Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Batey said the local health department is keeping abreast of the vaping information coming out from CDC and other sources.
“It’s a major concern for us,” he said. “It’s something we’re on alert for locally.”
Batey agreed that vaping is one of those health risks that doesn’t become apparent until the numbers start growing.
“We don’t see the health effects until it’s been around awhile – and then it’s too late,” he said.
Two bills have been introduced in the Ohio House that would restrict vaping. House Bill 346 would prohibit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and would establish a committee to study the health risks associated with the products.
House Bill 347 would put restrictions on vaping shops, including prohibiting products from being displayed openly and accessible to the public without intervention of a store employee and prohibiting people under the age of 21 inside the establishments.
