The debate over the well being dangers of Juul, vaping and e-cigarettes is now spilling into the general public sq..
In probably the most restrictive measures nationwide, San Francisco voters this week upheld by what seems to be a big majority — nearly 70 percent in a preliminary tally — a ban on the sale of flavored vaping merchandise, in addition to typical menthol cigarettes.
Even earlier than that, federal businesses had launched a wave of crackdowns in opposition to retailers that promote e-cigarettes, together with the favored Juul model, to minors. Public well being advocates and officers fear these gross sales might be an rising catastrophe, reversing years of declines in smoking.
E-cigarettes might be tiny — they could appear to be a pen or flash drive. When somebody vapes, there’s no fireplace, ash or smoky odor. Instead, the units warmth up and vaporize a liquid or strong. And vaping seems to have taken off amongst younger individuals.
“Believe it,” mentioned Julien Lavandier, 21. “It’s a habit for me, you know — all the time, when I set down my schoolwork to do homework, take a rip of the Juul. When I get in my car, take a rip of the Juul.”
Lavandier, now a scholar at Colorado State University, began vaping when he was a sophomore in highschool. He mentioned he’d go to events the place it was frequent to smoke an e-cigarette.
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“At first,” he mentioned, “it was a lot of, you know, chasing flavors, or doing smoke tricks and that was really what impressed me. I thought, you know, this is cool, this looks like something fun.”
He mentioned college students at his highschool vaped at school with out academics realizing. He estimated 1 / 4 of his classmates have been ordinary e-cigarette customers. Lavandier began vaping recurrently and later started smoking conventional cigarettes.
When Juul arrived available on the market, he took that up too, and located it habit-forming. He appreciated it greater than marijuana or alcohol.
“It’s impossible to let go once you started using,” Lavandier mentioned. “I’ll tell you — after even an hour and a half or two, I am chomping at the bit to find my Juul.”
Julien Lavandier holds up his Juul for inspection. The tiny handheld system, usually across the measurement of a USB flash drive, simulates the expertise of tobacco smoking. (John Daley / CPR News)
Stores aren’t purported to promote e-cigarettes to minors, however Lavandier mentioned he has been shopping for them for years and was by no means as soon as carded. In April, the FDA asked the agency behind Juul for paperwork to see if it’s deliberately advertising to underage teenagers.
The firm has on-line testimonials and has built an online community round their product. In one video, a lady in her 30s named Lauren says she’s always “encouraging people to use this and not smoke your cigarettes.”
Representatives from Juul Labs declined repeated requests for an interview. In a written assertion, the corporate mentioned its product affords a “true alternative to adult smokers, not anyone else, not minors.”
Other corporations that make e-liquids additionally say their merchandise are usually not for minors. The corporations do supply a variety of candy flavors, nevertheless, like cotton sweet, caramel, cherry, cookies and milk, and crème brûlée.
“If it tastes good and a kid might get their hands on it — that’s not our goal,” mentioned Jameson Rodgers, the VP of enterprise improvement for NEwhere Inc., a California-based maker of e-cigarettes and vaping merchandise.
“Also,” Rodgers mentioned, “I feel like some of the responsibility has to fall on some of the parents of any kid that’s deciding to walk into an adult store, whether that’s a liquor or a tobacco store.”
The head of Colorado’s well being division, Dr. Larry Wolk, mentioned he finds it laborious to imagine trade claims that it isn’t advertising to children.
“I have to call BS on that,” he mentioned, “because the flavors are cotton candy, ‘frutti tutti’ and they have cartoon characters on their labels and you can mix flavors and strengths. It’s really appealing to kids, whether or not they are intentionally marketing to kids.”
Wolk additionally pointed to analysis that implies youth vaping results in conventional smoking. A January report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine made that conclusion. “Among youth — who use e-cigarettes at greater charges than adults do — there’s substantial proof that e-cigarette use increases the risk of transitioning to smoking typical cigarettes,” the report discovered.
One of the advantages of e-cigarettes, in line with the trade, is that the units might help individuals give up their use of tobacco merchandise. When it involves that behavior, the recommendation from Ray Story, the founder and CEO of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, is “don’t start at all.”
Dr. Deborah Liptzin, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, sees e-cigarettes because the “new way to get kids addicted to nicotine.” She worries there’s been little analysis on well being dangers. (John Daley / CPR News)
“But if you’re going to smoke or do e-cigarettes,” Story mentioned, “then certainly take an e-cigarette because it’s vastly less harmful — if you consider both of them contain nicotine, and both of them are addictive. It’s vastly less harmful than conventional tobacco.”
Dr. Deborah Liptzin, a pediatric pulmonologist at Children’s Hospital Colorado, sees the proof in another way. E-cigarettes, she mentioned, have turn into “the new way to get kids addicted to nicotine.” There’s been scant e-cigarette analysis, she famous, together with on Juul and the elements within the e-liquids used within the units.
“They specifically use nicotine salts,” Liptzin mentioned. “We have no research that I could find on nicotine salts that are inhaled, because it’s so new.”
Data from the 2015 Healthy Kids Colorado Survey discovered that just about half of Colorado excessive schoolers reported that they’ve vaped. One in four mentioned that they had used an e-cigarette within the earlier month. That’s thrice the speed of conventional cigarettes, which has raised considerations amongst public well being officers.
“The Juul has definitely been a game changer,” mentioned Jen Bolcoa, a well being schooling coordinator with Jefferson County Public Schools. The tiny pod of e-liquid in a Juul has the equivalent nicotine of approximately 20 cigarettes — a complete pack — in line with the corporate’s web site.
Jen Bolcoa, a well being schooling coordinator with Jefferson County Public Schools in Colorado, warns that many individuals don’t understand e-liquids comprise nicotine. (John Daley / CPR News)
Most educators, dad and mom and college students “don’t realize how much nicotine is in there, or that there’s even any nicotine,” she mentioned. “That’s what the research tells us.”
Bolcoa works with college students as a part of the Breathe Easy group, a membership at excessive colleges backed by Jefferson County’s Tobacco-Free Youth program, to coach college students, dad and mom and directors in regards to the bigger dangers of tobacco use and Juuls. An academic video the group posted on Facebook tells viewers that “Juuls and other e-products are disguised to look like pens, flash drives.”
But their video competes with others posted by teenagers on social media websites. On YouTube, there’s a video known as the Juul Challenge. Two guys sit within the smoke-filled entrance seat of a automotive, competing, pulling on Juuls.
“Cheers, guys. Let’s see how many hits I can do? You got five,” one of many video performers says. “How many hits can you do? Write in the comments.”
That video had greater than 230,000 views, and 380 feedback in seven weeks. Teresa Kenison, a volunteer on the Breathe Easy group, mentioned social media helps drive the vaping development. She has seen frequent use of the units in school rooms, bogs and parking tons. All types of scholars are utilizing e-cigarettes and Juuls, from these in AP lessons to athletes.
Wheat Ridge High School seniors Gabriella Cordova (proper) and Teresa Kenison are members of the Breathe Easy group, which educates college students and adults of their Denver space faculty about tobacco and e-cigarette use. (John Daley / CPR News)
“It’s really everywhere,” she mentioned. “Students are getting hooked.”
She has observed older children making runs to the comfort retailer for youthful ones.
Lavandier can attest to the ability of e-cigarettes as a gateway to tobacco use. The school scholar mentioned he’s now hooked on each cigarettes and e-cigarettes. He has tried to give up, however mentioned he now can’t go three days with out utilizing a Juul. On a typical day, he’ll take upward of 300 puffs.
“So my biggest concern,” he mentioned, “is, you know, right now I’m puffing, puffing, happy, worry-free, and then in 20 years I’ll have to explain to my kids why I’ve developed popcorn lung — or some new form of lung cancer,” Lavandier mentioned. “Because I didn’t know what the risks were of e-cigarettes. It terrifies me.”
This story is a part of a partnership that features Colorado Public Radio, NPR and Kaiser Health News.
KHN’s protection of youngsters’s well being care points is supported partly by the Heising-Simons Foundation.
John Daley, Colorado Public Radio: @CODaleyNews
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