Since the early 2000s, e-cigarettes have become popular among adolescents, raising concerns about the health risks of vaping. Public health professionals like LaDarius Gammage and Dr. Shamarial Roberson are working to increase awareness of the dangers, particularly the potential for nicotine addiction and the risk of progressing to vaping marijuana.
Mr. Gammage is the former statewide program manager for Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT), a Florida Department of Health (DOH) initiative. He has seen firsthand how vaping can harm young people. While in that and other DOH positions, he recognized the risks vaping posed to young people.
“They vape now because they experienced a sensation,” Mr. Gammage says, referring to teen users of e-cigarettes. “They began to say, ‘Hey, I'm having a nick buzz,’ which means that they had some type of stimulation similar to feeling high from nicotine going within their body. And now you have some people that are chasing a bigger thrill by vaping marijuana.”
Dr. Roberson also worked at the DOH, formerly serving as deputy health secretary. She oversaw numerous DOH programs involved in emergency preparedness, disease control, community health promotion, public health statistics and performance management, and the Office of Medical Marijuana Use. She, too, is very concerned about the negative health effects teens may suffer due to vaping. Marijuana use by teens could harm brain development and cognitive health and spur anxiety, insomnia, depression, or other behavioral issues.
“The Florida Youth Substance Abuse Survey found that 5.5% of middle and high school students in Florida vape marijuana, which is alarming,” Dr. Roberson says. “Of those, 64% also vape nicotine, both highly addictive substances.”
Dr. Roberson also warns that vaping e-cigarettes can lead to serious lung conditions, including vaping-associated pulmonary injury (VAPI), a condition that has caused severe illness and even death. Symptoms of VAPI include cough, chest pain, and shortness of breath, and some cases require hospitalization.
Both experts are concerned about the dangers of vaping illegally obtained marijuana, which could be laced with harmful chemicals. They urge parents to look for signs that their children may be vaping, such as discarded USB drives, which might be e-cigarette cartridges. Items like hoodies with concealed e-cigarettes or water bottles filled with vape liquid are also common vaping tools among teens.
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