Young Adults Underestimate Health Risks of Vaping

Vaping among young adults is now an epidemic in the U.S., as declared by Surgeon General Jerome Adams in 2018. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, vaping as a recreational activity has become increasingly popular among teens and college students looking for a brief buzz similar to the nicotine “high” of cigarettes.

Even scarier: many young adults mistakenly believe it’s harmless and safer than cigarettes. The truth is that the nicotine contained in e-cigarettes is not only highly addictive but can cause lasting cognitive and behavioral impairments in young adults. This includes memory and learning difficulties and increased susceptibility to addiction — including addiction to other substances. Young adults under age 25 are especially vulnerable since their brains are still developing.

The Dangers of Vaping

When you vape, you inhale vapor created from a liquid heated up inside a device, namely vape pens, pod mods, tanks, electronic nicotine deliver devices (ENDS), e-hookahs and e-cigarettes. The liquid inside — called e-juice, e-liquid, cartridges, pods or oils — contains a base of glycerin (a combo of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin) along with nicotine and flavoring chemicals.

There are some 8,000 known e-liquid flavors available on the market today — ranging from banana pudding to watermelon to Hawaiian punch to unicorn puke. And while these flavorings have been found safe for food, the jury is still out on whether smoking or vaping these chemicals can harm your health.

Studies have found that e-liquids are rife with organic components often associated with aromas —cinnamaldehyde (cinnamon), vanillin (vanilla), benzaldehyde (almonds) — that have been found to cause the formation of formaldehyde and other cancer-causing chemicals, as well as irritation and inflammation of the lungs when subjected to heat or vaporization. In other words, you’re exposing yourself to all kinds of chemicals that we don’t yet understand and that are probably unsafe. 

Vaping and Addiction

Not only are we still unsure of the health dangers associated with vaping, but there’s no clear evidence that vaping helps people quit smoking cigarettes. In fact, researchers found that vaping increases a teen’s risk of smoking cigarettes later in life. “We cannot allow a whole new generation to become addicted to nicotine,” FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, MD, said in a press release. Nicotine is a toxic substance that raises your blood pressure and adrenaline, increasing your heart rate and likelihood of having a heart attack.  

Another dangerous trend is dabbing, or using vaping marijuana by heating concentrated cannabis oil, called butane hash oil (“honeycomb,” “budder” and “earwax”). When young adults vape rather than smoke marijuana, they tend to consumer higher concentrations of the addictive drug tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) — around 60 to 90 percent — and without the telltale smell that goes with smoking pot through a joint, blunt or pipe.

“This is a very dangerous trend,” Dr. Ruben Baler, a health scientist at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who estimates three million youth are vaping, 30 to 40 percent of whom are vaping marijuana, told The Chicago Sun-Times. “[E-cigs] are very easy to hide. They’re odorless, and they’re marketed very aggressively for kids, whether they have flavorings or high concentrations of nicotine or marijuana.”

Addiction Treatment for Young Adults

At Hope Academy, our young adult program is designed to help you change destructive behaviors and make lasting changes that will have a positive impact on your life and long-term health. To learn more, call today: 866-930-4673.

Juuling Dangerous as Smoking Pack of Cigarettes a Day

You may have heard of “Juuling” – and no, it’s not a new dance, but a dangerous form of vaping popular among teens and young adults. JUUL vapes are what some call the “Apple or iPhone” of vaping,” with a sleek, portable design that looks like a thumb drive. Like other forms of vaping, JUUL pods are offered in array of colors and enticing flavors – créme bruleé and mango, for example. And although you need to be 21 years old or older to purchase the device online, some states don’t have age restrictions for vape purchases. 

Beyond the already established dangers of e-cigarettes – a national panel of public health experts just released a report that teenagers who use the devices may be at higher risk of smoking – so-called JUULs could be as dangerous as smoking a pack of cigarettes. Each pod is equal to 200 cigarette puffs, according to the JUUL website. 

What’s perhaps more alarming, however, is that 25 percent of JUUL users, ages 15 to 24, don’t identify Juuling as vaping – and are equally “clueless to what they’re inhaling,” according to Reader’s Digest. In fact, according to a recent Truth Initiative web panel of more than 1,000 young adults, 37 percent were uncertain that they were inhaling nicotine.

“It is extremely worrisome that teens and young adults do not know that when they JUUL, they are inhaling an addictive substance,” says Robin Koval, CEO and President of the Truth Initiative, told Reader’s Digest. “But it’s not surprising — many young people do not purchase their own vape products, and there will not be labeling requirements indicating that products contain nicotine until August 2018.”

JUUL is still too new a product to know its specific risks, however, according to the Truth Initiative, nicotine is highly addictive and can alter nerve cell functioning in teen development. 

Addiction Treatment for Young Adults

At Hope Academy, our young adult program is designed to help you change destructive behaviors and make lasting changes that will have a positive impact on your life and long-term health. To learn more, call today: 866-930-4673.

Study: Vaping Ups Smoking Risk for Teens

We already know that adolescent e-cig users are more likely to start smoking cigarettes – but a new study found that trying e-cigarettes can double their risk for smoking tobacco. Students in grades seven to 12 who had tried an e-cigarette are 2.16 times more likely to be susceptible to cigarette smoking, according to researchers from the University of Waterloo and Wake Forest School of Medicine.

"Since e-cigarettes came on the market there has been a debate about whether their use may lead to cigarette smoking," said Bruce Baskerville, co-author on the study and a researcher at the Propel Centre for Population Health Impact at the University of Waterloo, in a statement. "The answer among adolescents is yes."

More Facts About E-Cigarettes and Adolescents

About 3 million middle- and high-school students use e-cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The National Institute on Drug Abuse put together an infographic containing some more essential facts on e-cigs and adolescents, including:

• Teens are more likely to use e-cigarettes than cigarettes. Past-month use of e-cigarettes was 9.5 percent among 8th graders, 14.0 percent among 10th graders, and 16.2 percent among 12 graders.
• Two times as many boys use e-cigs as girls.
• Teens don’t know what’s in their e-cig. Manufacturers don’t have to report e-cig ingredients, so users don’t know what’s actually in them. In fact, 66 percent of teens believe that their e-cig just contains flavoring.
• Seven in 10 teens are exposed to e-cig ads. Among high school students, 56.3 percent are exposed to retail ads, 42.9 percent to internet ads, 38.4 percent to TV and movie ads, and 34.6 percent to newspaper and magazine ads.

Young Adults and Substance Abuse

Those who use nicotine at a young age are at an exponentially greater risk of using harder drugs. If you or someone you love is struggling with substance abuse disorder, call today: 866-930-4673. At Hope Academy's rehab for younger adults, we walk beside you through the most overwhelming parts of addiction withdrawal, recovery and restoration. 

What You Need to Know About E-cigarettes

By now you’ve likely heard about the new federal regulations that kicked in Monday for electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, along with some other tobacco-related products. 

To recap: The sale of e-cigs, tobacco-like cigars, hookah tobacco, and pipe tobacco are now illegal for minors; manufacturers and makers must place warning labels on packaging and in their ads; and they must also disclose to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration all the ingredients used in making the products. 

While many health organizations are onboard with these new regulations, The American Lung Association (ALA) has perhaps been most vocal when it comes to embracing these new rules and wanting the government to go even further.

“Youth are using e-cigarettes at an increasing and alarming rate,” Harold P. Wimmer, national president and CEO of the ALA, said in a statement. “E-cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product by youth.” About 3 million middle- and high-school students use e-cigarettes, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Three Reasons to Say No to E-Cigs
The ALA has numerous articles on its website dispelling myths about e-cigs and bringing to light the harmful effects of these products. Here are three things you should know about e-cigarettes, according to the organization:

1. E-cigarettes may contain toxic ingredients. Diacetyl, a buttery flavored chemical often added to food products such as popcorn, caramel, and dairy products, has been found in some e-cigarettes with flavors. Diacetyl can cause a serious and irreversible lung disease commonly known as "popcorn lung."
2. E-cigarettes may lead to second-hand exposure. Even though e-cigarettes do not produce smoke like traditional cigarettes, they can expose others to secondhand emissions. Two studies have found formaldehyde, benzene, and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (all carcinogens) coming from those secondhand emissions. Other studies have shown that chemicals in the vapor contain formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and other potential toxins. 
3. Almost all e-cigarettes contain nicotine. Nicotine has a negative impact on adolescent brain development. In fact, nicotine use during adolescence and young adulthood has been associated with lasting cognitive and behavioral impairments, including effects on working memory and attention. 

Young Adults and Substance Abuse
Those who use nicotine at a young age are at an exponentially greater risk of using harder drugs. If you or someone you love is struggling with substance abuse disorder, call today: 866-930-4673. At Hope Academy's rehab for younger adults, we walk beside you through the most overwhelming parts of addiction withdrawal, recovery, and restoration.