As cigarettes have faded out of mainstream use with increased education around health concerns, a new addictive habit has risen to prominence. Vaping and e-cigarettes are now a part of mainstream culture, but they still have a risk factor, just like traditional cigarettes.
Vaping proponents maintain that it is much safer than traditional cigarettes, contributing to a surge in usage, especially among youth. As many as 8 in 10 middle school students have reported seeing advertising around e-cigarettes. With ever present advertising combined with the belief vaping is less harmful, the lower cost, and the abundance of flavors, it’s unsurprising that from 2017 to 2018, vaping usage in high school students jumped from 12 percent to 21 percent.
The vaping market is primarily people ages 13 to 35 years of age. That group from 13 to 25 are still in prime brain development years. Vaping can hinder and alter this development because, just like cigarettes, it contains high levels of nicotine. Nicotine is known to harm parts of the brain that control attention, learning, impulse control, and mood control. Some e-cigarette cartridges can have as much nicotine as a full pack of traditional cigarettes.
In addition to the nicotine, e-cigarettes and vaping pose a safety risk because the cartridges and juices can contain ultra fine particles and additives like vitamin e acetate, pine oils, mineral oils, and terpenes. All these things are entering the lungs, affecting normal lung functions.
The injuries and deaths from this new trend are growing. In 2011 Poison Control reported 271 calls regarding vaping. That number rose to 4,000 by 2014. The growth is so much, the Center for Disease Control (CDC) now tracks vaping injuries on a weekly basis. Last week the reported injuries rose to 2,172, up 121 from the previous week. Deaths are also not unheard of due to vaping injuries. Indiana is currently the state with the highest vaping related deaths.
This month the CDC released a report investigating lung injuries related to vaping. This is the first step forward in measuring and addressing the safety risks of e-cigarettes and vaping products.
Want to know more? Listen in as attorney Kevin King discusses the safety risks associated with the new vaping trend on People’s Law Talk.
Want to hear more talks from Peter and Kevin King? Tune into WCIS 1010 AM Columbus, IN the first and third Friday of every month for People’s Law Talk.
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