E-CIGARETTES AND VAPING
E-cigarettes and Vaping
E-cigarettes, also commonly known as vaporizers, cloud pens and e-hookahs fill an individuals lungs with carcinogens and are illegal if you’re under 18. Although e-cigarettes do not produce tobacco smoke, they still contain nicotine and cadmium (like in batteries), along with 10 other harmful known carcinogens.
Of particular concern in Eaton County is the ease with which youth obtain electronic vapor products. In 2022, the primary source of electronic vapor products for 9th and 11th graders was by borrowing them from someone else.
Why Is Nicotine Unsafe for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults
E-cigarettes, also commonly known as vaporizers, cloud pens and e-hookahs fill an individuals lungs with carcinogens and are illegal if you’re under 18. Although e-cigarettes do not produce tobacco smoke, they still contain nicotine and cadmium (like in batteries), along with 10 other harmful known carcinogens.
Of particular concern in Eaton County is the ease with which youth obtain electronic vapor products. In 2022, the primary source of electronic vapor products for 9th and 11th graders was by borrowing them from someone else.
- Vaporizers can also contain marijuana oil and, it is difficult to tell what youth are consuming.
Why Is Nicotine Unsafe for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults
- Most e-cigarettes (vapes) contain nicotine—the addictive drug in regular cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products.
- A CDC study found that 99% of the e-cigarettes sold in assessed venues in the United States contained nicotine.(1)
- Some vape product labels do not disclose that they contain nicotine, and some vape liquids marketed as containing 0% nicotine have been found to contain nicotine.
- Nicotine can harm the developing adolescent brain.2 The brain keeps developing until about age 25.
- Using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control.(2)
- Each time a new memory is created or a new skill is learned, stronger connections – or synapses – are built between brain cells. Young people’s brains build synapses faster than adult brains. Nicotine changes the way these synapses are formed.
- Using nicotine in adolescence may also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs.(2)
Why Teens are Attracted to Vaping
TOBACCO PREVENTION
Tobacco is an agricultural crop that has a negative impact on humans. Smoking can cause chronic lung disease, coronary heart disease, and stroke, as well as cancer of the lungs, larynx, esophagus, mouth, and bladder. When a person smokes a cigarette or any type of electronic nicotine delivery system, the body responds immediately to the chemical nicotine in the smoke. Nicotine causes a short-term increase in blood pressure, heart rate, and the flow of blood from the heart. It also causes the arteries to narrow. Carbon monoxide reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry. This, combined with the effects produced by nicotine, creates an imbalance in the demand for oxygen by the cells and the amount of oxygen the blood is able to supply.