Teens Vaping increases, now what?

Vaping is the new smoking. With so many doing it, it means it’s cool right? If you are an adult, you can decide for yourself, however kids are the problem right now. Vaping in teens has reached an all time high. With products coming out that are smaller and smaller, and create less smoke, it’s making it easier to hide.

“The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released new findings from the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) showing that more than 3.6 million middle and high school students were current (past 30 day) e-cigarette users in 2018, a dramatic increase of more than 1.5 million students since last year.” FDA

photo from DrugFree.org 

As a parent, this is so scary. There has always been smoking with teens, but a 1.5 MILLION increase in one year is a huge increase, and it’s something that parents, and other adults need to be aware of and watch for.

So what do we do if our kids are smoking, vaping, or we think they might be? First thing is to breath. Take a deep breath and collect your thoughts. So many of us, myself included make snap decisions or reactions that we later wish we could have changed.

Let’s start with the basics, what is a Juul (this being the most popular choice right now in kids)?

Right from their site “JUUL is designed with smokers in mind, from form to technology to flavor. It is easy to use, there are no buttons or switches. The JUUL vaporizer has regulated temperature control and uses nicotine salts as found in the tobacco leaf rather than free-base nicotine, unlike standard e-cigarettes. These qualities are unique to JUUL and allow you to experience freedom from the mess of cigarette ash and odor. By accommodating cigarette-like nicotine levels, JUUL provides satisfaction to meet the standards of smokers looking to switch from smoking cigarettes.”

What does this mean for teens? Well, this means flavors and ease of use. The size of the Juul is also a selling point It’s small. I’ve put it up against a pencil and dollar bill for your size reference. As you can see, it can be easily hidden. The pods are even smaller. The pods are the nicotine and flavor part. They are a tiny rectangle that goes inside the Juul. Flavors are:

•        Mango
•        Crème brulee
•       Espresso
•        Banana
•        Vanilla
•        Strawberry
•        Chocolate
•        Bubble gum
•        Fruit

Signs your child may be vaping

Pens or USB Drives that Don’t Look Normal. There are more than just Juuls. They need to be charged though, so look for USB shaped items or things that look like a pen, but seem off. If you aren’t sure what it is, go to Google and do a quick search. Chances are it will have the name on the product someplace.

Smoker’s cough and sores in mouth. It used to be that a heavy smoker could be caught by their cough alone. Now with vaping that’s king of taken away. While they still may cough more than normal, they also might get sore. Be on the watch for your child complaining about sores in their mouth.

Discarded pods. Pods don’t last forever and need to be changed out. Think of it like gum, you like different flavors. Kids like different flavor pods as well. So it’s not unusual for them to have multiple. A dead giveaway of your child vaping is discarded pods. They are small, and can be easily missed

Unexplained Sweet Smell. Since pods have flavors now, you do’t smell that “cigarette” smell. Instead you smell watermelon or mint. Mint is a huge one as it’s easily explained by gum. If your child wasn’t a huge gum chewer and now all of a sudden has to have some all the time, I’d question it a little.

I’m guessing you are going through this list either like, OMG that’s my child, or nope I’m good. If you are all good, then yay. If you aren’t you are probably thinking.. now what? Like I said earlier, take a deep breath and processes this.

First you want to know 100% if your child is vaping. You can start by just asking, if you think they will be honest. If they are honest, and they are vaping then really open up a dialog. Talk about what can happen.

Can my child get in trouble for vaping?

Yes, if they are under the age of 18, it’s illegal. Any school I have been to or visitied does not allow tabacco on the campus even if you are of age. If caught with tobacco (which includes vaping products), many things can happen.

• Detention
• Suspension
• Calls to parents (this one is pretty much a given, but kids are scared of that)
• Fines
• Court

I want my child to quit.

Well, who doesn’t want their kid to quit vaping/smoking? The thing is, as much as we want them to, if they don’t want to, they won’t. Nicotine is addicting and quitting can be very hard.

• Talk to a counselor
• Talk to a Dr
• Classes on teen vaping and how to quit

I know I threw a lot at you especially if this is a new topic for you. The CDC has been doing studies on teen smoking for years, and has been working really hard to get information out there to lesson this. As much as their efforts are appreciated, we as parents need to be on the lookout as well. We can use the FDA and CDC as tools to help.

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