Why is there a blog about vaping?
I started smoking cigarettes at the age of 13. I was young and had plenty of support and education to know better. No one in my family used tobacco. In fact, I had multiple talks with my parents about avoiding tobacco, and plenty of education in school. Unfortunately, as a young man I bought into the advertising that tobacco manufactures sold me. I wanted to be cool. I wanted to be wild and free. I wanted to show the world I was capable of being my own adult. It took me about 12 years before I realized how terrible this choice was for me. Only until I found my self deployed in the military with limited access to cigarettes did I even try to quit. Since that time, I have been tobacco free for well over 10 years. I have grown up, gotten an education in health care, and am working on my doctorate. In returning to school I have noted a marked increase in the use of vaping among young adults and under-aged teens. I have also seen an increase in the use of advertising targeting youth with vaping specific products as well as the increased presence of “vape shops” in my community. This concerns me as a health professional. Even with multiple new policies being created including an increase of the legal age required to purchase vaping supplies in Arizona, more of our youth are starting to vape and use tobacco. There is a new target for tobacco and it’s our youth.
This shift in perspective of the hazards related to e-cigarette use is alarming. I personally know how easy it is to start using tobacco. Things like flavored and colored “E-Juice” and social media influences marketing light up and designer vaporizers continue to push these products onto a new, younger generation.
This YouTube video sponsored by an e-cigarette company highlights the targeted marketing that is being focused on young Americans today. the above videos push is towards youth and uses bright colors and techno music. It also describes vaping as a sport/hobby.
The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) found that teens are being exposed to advertising regarding E-cigarettes at a disproportionate rate
NIH also has statistics regarding teens who use E-cigarettes and their likelihood to start smoking compared to non-users. The data shows a much higher rate of use with e-cigarettes. Data on what teens think are is their E-juice are also listed. It’s important to know that there is no requirement to list what is actually in the product.
There is currently some traction in my community. As of January 1, 2020, Arizona legislation increased the legal age of tobacco use to 21 years of age in Tucson. There are also representatives in the local community seeking to improve the vaping and tobacco situation in our community.
Heather Carter, legislative senator for District 15, has spear-headed several bills regarding tobacco and is looking to make vaping advertisements to be governed by the same laws as tobacco.
References
Fischer, H. (2019). Proposed law would regulate vaping products, raise legal age to use them in Arizona. Retrieved from https://tucson.com/news/local/proposed-law-would-regulate-vaping-products-raise-legal-age-to/article_090af754-ef07-5c89-8e2f-72e7fad723b3.html
Lawrence, A. [vAustinL]. (2019, January 20). Best Colored Vape Tricks . Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EwhN7EsVNSo
National institute of Health. (2016). Teens and E-cigarettes. Retrieved from https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/teens-e-cigarettes
Sayers, J. (2019). Tucson tobacco ordinance could precede renewed push for statewide law. Retrieved from https://tucson.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/tucson-tobacco-ordinance-could-precede-renewed-push-for-statewide-law/article_1b4fb555-318f-5ab0-9878-da03022219f1.html
Senate Members (2020). Senate Member Heather Carter. [JPG]. Retrieved from https://www.azleg.gov/senate-member/?legislature=54&legislator=1931
Vaping health hazards and need policy change 
Vaping has increased over the past years mostly in part due to advanced marketing skills targeting adolescence who do not fully understand the harmful and long-term effects smoking can have. If only advertising would in return depict what 20-30 years of smoking looks like. As an adult-geriatric nurse practitioner student I have heard countless stories from older adults who wished they had known the harmful effects smoking would have later in their life. If you spend a little time in a nursing home it does not take long to see a patient carrying around an oxygen tank, sitting down resting after walking 50 feet. However, this is not the story Big Tobacco depicts to adolescence.
I recently went to the Arizona state capitol to support Heather Carter and the American Heart Association’s efforts to stop vaping and urge legislators to understand the health dangers of vaping. I was graced with several stories from middle school aged to high school aged students who spoke of the daily struggles they endure at school related to vaping. One student even told a story of her premature birth and learning disabilities due to smoking. This is not how children and adolescence should have to live their childhood years, in fear of going to the bathroom because another student may be vaping or having a difficult time in class because their mother smoked while she was pregnant.
A recent study showed that between 2017 and 2018 alone, the past 30-day use of nicotine e-cigarettes among high school seniors nearly doubled from 11% to 21% with rates continuing to increase (Singh et al., 2020). This is the largest recorded increase in substance abuse among adolescence in the past four decades (Singh et al., 2020). This is an epidemic that will greatly impact the future of our healthcare system. Efforts to reduce vaping are being made my legislators and there needs to be a continued push in efforts to reduce vaping and smoking among young adults.
Reference:
Singh, S., Windle, S. B., Filion, K. B., Thombs, B. D., Oloughlin, J. L., Grad, R., & Eisenberg, M. J. (2020). E-cigarettes and youth: Patterns of use, potential harms, and recommendations. Preventive Medicine, 106009. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2020.106009
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As a fellow Tucson resident, I too feel strongly about making it hard for teenagers to access vaping products. The ordnance you mentioned passed by a vote of 6-1. Councilman Richard Fimbres voted against it with the argumenta that the ordnance would be detrimental to small businesses (Sayers, 2019). Along with Tucson City Council passing the ordnance, the schools are stepping up as well. The Tucson Unified School District joined a national lawsuit in October 2019 against the e-cigarette company Juul for targeting teenagers with their marketing (Dalbey, 2019). Furthermore, there is a teen from Marana, a town adjacent to Tucson, speaking out against e-cigarettes. According to Tinsley (2019), the teenager reports that she started smoking e-cigarettes at the age of 16 until she ended up in the hospital with acute respiratory distress syndrome. Though her case is not a confirmed case of vaping related illness the young individual chose to stop vaping and has taken it upon herself to speak out against vaping. Furthermore, in January 2020, the Food and Drug Administration, unauthorized the manufacturing and sale of flavored cartridges for the e-cigarettes that were targeting children and teenagers (FDA, 2020). I am interested to see how your blog develops and that policy changes that are to come on this topic.
References
Dalbey, B. (2019). Tucson school district sues vape pen maker Juul. Retrieved from https://patch.com/arizona/tucson/tucson-school-district-sues-vape-pen-maker-juul
Food and Drug Administration. (2020). FDA finalizes enforcement policy on unauthorized flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes that appeal to children, including fruit and mint. Retrieved from https://www.fda.gov/news-events/press-announcements/fda-finalizes-enforcement-policy-unauthorized-flavored-cartridge-based-e-cigarettes-appeal-children
Sayers, J. (2019). Tucson City Council votes to raise legal age to buy tobacco to 21. Retrieved from https://tucson.com/news/government-and-politics/tucson-city-council-votes-to-raise-legal-age-to-buy/article_4931aa8e-f53e-11e9-a4e3-7bfedb0ab2f7.html#tracking-source=home-the-latest
Tinsley, K. (2019). From hospital bed to classroom, teen in southern AZ shares vaping story with students. Retrieved from https://www.kold.com/2019/09/15/hospital-bed-classroom-teen-southern-az-shares-vaping-story-with-students/
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