Fredericksburg Parent

16 Fredericksburg Parent and Family • September 2024 Today's world of teenage nicotine consumption looks very different from what many parents may have seen in high school in the 80s and 90s, with a cigarette smoked on the sly at lunch or after school. You can't smoke a cigarette in the middle of a classroom, but vaping is much easier to conceal. What's more, today's teens deal with a much higher level of addiction. Parents can help their children by educating themselves about the products that today's youth are likely to see among their peers and through marketing, and by maintaining open lines of communication with children about making healthy choices. HIGHLY CONCENTRATED Vaping products are not regulated, so there's no way of knowing exactly what is in any one product, but an average nicotine vape pod contains the same level of nicotine as an entire pack of ciga- rettes. Some products may even have THC or fentanyl in them. In addition, the act of vaping is very different from smoking a ciga- rette, which is also extremely harmful. "Vaping devices produce an aerosol, and that aerosol is very effec- tive at getting nicotine to pass the mucous membranes in your mouth and your lungs," said Jennifer Bateman, a prevention special- ist and school substance abuse educator with the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board. "It fast-tracks into the brain, where dopamine receptors are firing." Tiffany Eustice, Northwest Region Coordinator for Tobacco Control with the Virginia Department of Health, said the concentration of nicotine within vape products is a warning sign of just how addictive they are. "Vaping is way more addictive than cigarettes," Eustice said. "It's far more concentrated, and that's why we are seeing youth having to use it, not just after school or maybe during lunch breaks, but sneaking it in classes. They are heavily addicted." Eustice said it's important to understand that the addiction formed through vaping can be so strong that youth aren't just doing it socially. "The vaping devices are very teen-friendly," Bateman said, and the market is constantly awash in new devices that enable teens to hide their habit in public settings like home or even a classroom. Examples include hoodies with drawstrings contain- ing hidden tubes to allow users to inhale from a hidden device and insulated "travel" mugs where the straw is actually a vaping inhaler. "And kids will make their own," Bateman said. "They'll take a highlighter and take everything out of it, put the vape inside and it will look like just a pen they have in their backpack. "It's changing every day, and is very hard to keep up with." Researchers are beginning to see adolescents and teens using oral nicotine pouches, a product intended to help adult smokers quit the habit. One popular brand name is Zyn. While these pouches can be useful if they help a smoking-addicted adult to quit, researchers from Harvard's School of Public Health noted earlier this year that the nicotine in Zyn pouches is highly addictive and can increase cardio- vascular disease risk in people who are not already using nicotine. WHEN TO TALK TO KIDS Bateman starts her education work with children as young as 2 or 3 years old through a program called Healthy Alternatives for Little Ones (HALO). A message from the Rappahannock Area Community Services Board WRITTEN BY EMILY FREEHLING TOBACCO 21 IS FEDERAL LAW In 2019, the federal government raised the minimum age for the sale or distribution of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years. It is illegal for a retailer to sell any tobacco product—including cigarettes, cigars and e-cigarettes (vapes) to anyone under 21. The retailers and dealers who are selling vaping products to high school and middle school students are doing so illegally. In addition, friends, family members and other individuals who purchase these products and give them to people under 21 are also in violation of federal law. Parents and Kids Need to Know the Facts About Vaping

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