E-cigarettes caught fire among teensPosted by freemexy on April 18th, 2019 On November 15, Scott Gottlieb, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, announced new sales restrictions on certain Electronic Cigarette flavors preferred by teens. The move was a response to a worrying rise in vaping among adolescents in the last year. “E-cigs have become an almost ubiquitous and dangerous trend among teens,” he warned, calling it an “epidemic” in a September speech. That spike may be due to use of the top-selling e-cigarette brand, Juul. One of a new class of e-cigarettes called pod-mods, a Juul vaporizes a prefilled pod of flavored liquid that contains a higher concentration of nicotine than other e-cigs. The palm-sized device resembles a USB flash drive and can be used discreetly, as it doesn’t produce much vapor. A survey of 437 California high school students found that teens are more likely to become regular users of Juuls than of other e-cigs (SN Online: 10/23/18). Teens already have their own term for vaping: juuling. Juul’s high dose of nicotine alarms public health officials. But use of any e-cigarette or vaping product containing the addictive chemical puts youth at risk. Adolescents and young adults are more likely to become addicted than older adults. Nicotine also harms brain development — ongoing until around age 25 — affecting mood and impulse control. Like it? Share it!More by this author |