Vaping and JUULing; Parents Need to Educate Themselves About E-Cigarettes

Photo: Kaitlyn Parra Photography

Knowledge is power, and ignorance is often not blissful, especially when parenting. Most parents agree that raising children is a constant learning experience. Many of the decisions and choices parents make are based on the facts they’ve gathered, the research they’ve done, and the time they’ve spent informing themselves about a subject. Whether that subject is birth options, infant feeding, school choices, orthodontia, night terrors or whole foods, what is imperative is that parents take the time to educate themselves so that they can apply that knowledge to guide and instruct their children.

One subject that most parents are well-informed on is drug and alcohol use. The information and facts regarding drugs and alcohol are readily available and even taught in schools and some social groups and athletic programs. Recently, however, parents are discovering that their knowledge of tobacco products might need an update. Decades of public education has raised awareness that cigarette smoking causes cancer, smokeless tobacco causes cancer, and pipe and clove cigarette usage can cause cancer.

But what about electronic cigarettes? Who is educating consumers about vaping, and if those consumers happen to be minors, illegally imbibing, who is educating them?

What is an e-cigarette? According to medicalnewstoday.com, “An electronic cigarette is a battery-operated device that emits doses of vaporized nicotine, or non-nicotine solutions, for the user to inhale. It aims to provide a similar sensation to inhaling tobacco smoke, without the smoke”.

In common terminology, this is called “vaping.” It has become the most popular form of nicotine use by teenagers. Health authorities have been regulating the sales of e-cigarettes ever since these products first appeared stateside around 10 years ago. The laws in California are the strictest nationally. Tobacco products which include e-cigarettes cannot be sold to anyone under the age of 21. Many e-cigarettes are purchased online. But many parents are ignorant of the laws that govern sales and usage, and too many parents aren’t aware of the health facts surrounding vaping.

There is a misconception that e-cigarettes are not the same as other tobacco products, that vaping is somehow not like smoking. Parents must inform themselves about e-cigarettes to educate their children in the same way they caution against drugs and alcohol use.

Medical studies on the health effects of e-cigarettes are not as abundant and factual as the numerous studies done on cigarette and smokeless tobacco use. But more and more research is being conducted each year. Opponents of e-cigarettes believe that the tobacco industry is targeting minors with thousands of fruity and candy names and flavors of the liquid which is vaporized and then inhaled. It is a medical fact that nicotine is highly addictive and harms brain development. Although some e-cigarette users believe that vaping “juice” is nicotine-free, that isn’t necessarily the case.

High school students and even middle school students have been reported to be vaping at percentages that are truly staggering. Much of this interest in and attraction to e-cigarettes comes from social media, the popularity of the vape plumes (vapor that mimics the appearance of smoke) and learning to blow elaborate “smoke rings.”

Sonya Kennedy, a mother of two and owner of California Dance Company located in Redding and Anderson, discovered that her 12-year-old son had been vaping. “My son came to me and told me he was vaping with no nicotine, and he didn’t think it was bad. On YouTube vaping has blown up with kids showing the different smoke shapes they can make. On social media, he sees all the star athletes in high school doing it. He really didn’t think he was doing anything wrong because he wasn’t, or thought he wasn’t, using the vape juice with nicotine in it. I had to get a lung surgeon on the phone and explain that even the non-nicotine liquid is bad for you.”

Like many parents whose children have been vaping, Sonya admits, “At first when he told me, I am embarrassed to say I thought ‘well he could be doing worse things….’ Then with more research and thought, I learned this was awful for him and had to figure out a way to make him understand why it is awful for him.” She began to reach out to friends, colleagues, physicians and even online resources to gather the information and facts she needed. She has contacted area schools and is now working with administrations to bring education to both students and parents. “E-cigarettes are the ‘new’ teen epidemic,” she says. “As parents, we need to stick together, educate ourselves and our kids and show them that this is just another way for the cigarette companies to make money while negatively impacting our kids. But not this time, not on our watch!”

Parents can begin their research at the following websites:  lung.org, Tobaccofreeca.com, Flavorshookkids.org and buttecounty.net/ph/TobaccoEducation/Flavors