Vaping/E-Cigarettes

Vaping or E-Cigarettes

According to the CDC, studies show that of the e-cigarettes sold in the United States, 99% of them contain nicotine and other harmful substances. Nicotine is an addictive drug. A brain continues to develop until the age of about 25. During this time nicotine can be harmful to the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, impulse control and mood. Adolescences who use nicotine may increase their risk of future additions to other drugs.

E-cigarettes come in many shapes and sizes. They may look like regular cigarettes, cigars or pipes. While others may look like pens or USB flash drives. The use of e-cigarettes may be called “vaping” or “JUULing”. E-cigarettes are an electric device that heats a liquid either by battery or heating element to produce an aerosol. This aerosol is harmful to the lungs.

Vaping is the act of inhaling and exhaling the vapor produced by the heated nicotine liquid (often called “juice”) of an electronic cigarette (e-cigarette or e-cig), vape pen, or personal vaporizer. It’s also commonly called JUULing (pronounced jewel-ing). https://childmind.org/article/teen-vaping-what-you-need-to-know/)

“Tobacco use continues to be a major health threat to children, adolescents and adults,” said Karen M. Wilson, MD, MPH, FAAP, chair of the AAP Section on Tobacco Control and section head of Pediatric Hospital Medicine at Children’s Hospital Colorado. “The developing brains of children and teens are particularly vulnerable to nicotine, which is why the growing popularity of e-cigarettes among adolescents is so alarming and dangerous to their long-term health”. https://www.aap.org/en-us/about-the-aap/aap-press-room/aap-press-room-mediacenter/Pages/Tobacco-and-E-Cigarettes.aspx

Online Resources:

● American Lung Association: o https://www.lung.org/quit-smoking/e-cigarettes-vaping/e-cigarette-resources ● Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: o https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/index.htm