Youth Tobacco Use and Vaping Prevention

Tobacco use and smoking do damage to nearly every organ in the human body, often leading to lung cancer, respiratory disorders, heart disease, stroke, and other illnesses. Below are some great resources to help others you may know or yourself with tobacco cessation. Fill out the form below for your chance to win an Amazon Gift Card!

What’s the Bottom Line on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults?

• The use of e-cigarettes is unsafe for kids, teens, and young adults.

• Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine. Nicotine is highly addictive and can harm adolescent brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s.1

• E-cigarettes can contain other harmful substances besides nicotine.

• Young people who use e-cigarettes may be more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future.

Why Is Nicotine Unsafe for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults?

• Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine—the addictive drug in regular cigarettes, cigars, and other tobacco products.

• A recent CDC study found that 99% of the e-cigarettes sold in assessed venues in the United States contained nicotine.

• Some e-cigarette labels do not disclose that they contain nicotine, and some e-cigarettes marketed as containing 0% nicotine have been found to contain nicotine.

• Nicotine can harm the developing adolescent brain.1 The brain keeps developing until about age 25.

• Using nicotine in adolescence can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control.1

• Each time a new memory is created or a new skill is learned, stronger connections – or synapses – are built between brain cells. Young people’s brains build synapses faster than adult brains. Nicotine changes the way these synapses are formed.

• Using nicotine in adolescence may also increase risk for future addiction to other drugs.1

• Scientists are still learning about the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes.

• Some of the ingredients in e-cigarette aerosol could also be harmful to the lungs in the long-term. For example, some e-cigarette flavorings may be safe to eat but not to inhale because the gut can process more substances than the lungs.1

• Defective e-cigarette batteries have caused some fires and explosions, a few of which have resulted in serious injuries.

• Children and adults have been poisoned by swallowing, breathing, or absorbing e-cigarette liquid through their skin or eyes. Nationally, approximately 50% of calls to poison control centers for e-cigarettes are for kids 5 years of age or younger.

 Ways to Quit Smoking

Most former smokers quit without using one of the treatments that scientific research has shown can work. However, the following treatments are proven to be effective for smokers who want help to quit:

• Brief help by a doctor (such as when a doctor takes 10 minutes or less to give a patient advice and assistance about quitting)

• Individual, group, or telephone counseling

• Behavioral therapies (such as training in problem solving)

• Treatments with more person-to-person contact and more intensity (such as more or longer counseling sessions)

• Programs to deliver treatments using mobile phones

Medications for quitting that have been found to be effective include the following:

• Nicotine replacement products

  • Over-the-counter (nicotine patch [which is also available by prescription], gum, lozenge)

  • Prescription (nicotine patch, inhaler, nasal spray)

Counseling and medication are both effective for treating tobacco dependence, and using them together is more effective than using either one alone.

• More information is needed about quitting for people who smoke cigarettes and also use other types of tobacco.

For more information click here and here

Tobacco Cessation Guide

Here is a list of resources from the State of Michigan.