Vaping: US surgeon general issues advisory on teen use of e-cigarettes
CNNCNN — Prompted by an unprecedented spike in the use of e-cigarettes among teens, the US surgeon general issued a call to action for parents, teachers and health professionals about the negative health consequences of e-cigarettes at a news conference Tuesday. “The bottom line,” according to Alex Azar, the US secretary of health and human services, is that “in the datasets we use, we have never seen use of any substance rise this rapidly.” The percentage of high school-age children reporting past 30-day use of e-cigarettes rose by more than 75% between 2017 and 2018, while use among middle school-age kids increased nearly 50%, the National Youth Tobacco Survey showed. The skyrocketing rise in e-cigarettes comes at a time when there are “encouraging signs elsewhere” – namely, the fact that alcohol use, tobacco use and opioid use among youth have declined, Azar said. “The number one reason teens say they use these products is because they say they have flavors in them,” said Adams, who noted that many e-cigarettes come in kid-friendly flavors. While e-cigarettes may contain less harmful chemicals than other tobacco products, Adams cautioned, “Less harm does not mean harmless.” Spreading like ‘wildfire’ in high school Kids, though, believe it’s just “water and flavor,” said school substance abuse counselor Mila Vascones-Gatski who also spoke at the news conference.