Have you noticed the silent epidemic of vaping taking root among our youth, particularly those from low socioeconomic backgrounds? The allure of vaping, with its sleek devices and enticing flavors, quickly leads young people down the path of nicotine addiction. There is a perception that vaping is OK, or somehow safer than combustible cigarettes – yet it often leads to cigarette smoking and decades of subsequent health problems.
Recent data from the Portage County Community Health Assessment provides some insight into vape and nicotine usage by youth in Portage County. Despite the minimum legal age of 21 to purchase nicotine products, 28% of high school students responding to the survey admitted to vaping every day for the last 30 days. This should alarm us, as their adolescent brains are still developing and are particularly susceptible to addiction.
The tobacco and vape industry’s marketing tactics disproportionately target low-income youth. Our low-income families already face inadequate health care access, food insecurity, unstable housing, inconsistent employment and higher rates of chronic disease. We shouldn’t allow vaping and inevitable nicotine addiction to go unchallenged and exacerbate the situation.
We need to fight back and support funding for promising initiatives like phone-based quit line coaching, whose success rates approach 50% among youth. Such programs, especially when combined with nicotine replacement therapies and mobile health apps, are a good start. Of course, prevention is the best approach, and we should all hold local retailers accountable to Ohio’s legal age of 21 for tobacco and nicotine purchases.
The health and future of our youth are at stake. It’s time for us all to pay attention! To learn more about youth vaping, visit: livevapefree.com.
Angela J. DeJulius, medical director, Kent City Health Department
This article originally appeared on Record-Courier: Vaping is an epidemic, especially among low-income youth in Portage County | Letter
Reporting by Angela J. DeJulius, MD, MPH / Record-Courier
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