Local health leaders are warning the community of a dangerous trend in teenage vaping in Middlesex-London. Brandon Tingley is tobacco enforcement officer at the Middlesex-London Health Unit. He calls attention to some shocking stats—nearly a third of all high schoolers have vaped and nearly a quarter of those students are vaping every day. This trend should alarm all of us with its serious addiction implications and health devastations for our youth. It threatens to drive them into the arms of combustible cigarettes as a cessation alternative from vaping.
The Middlesex-London Health Unit has indeed been on the leading edge of public health’s response to this epidemic. Vaping by students Health officials have dispatched police officers into schools to teach students about the risks associated with vaping. They’re actively implementing enforcement of regulations delineated under the Smoke Free Ontario Act. When a teen is caught with a vape device or exhaling vapor, they can be subjected to fines of up to $305. Those caught distributing vapes to classmates could face even steeper punishments, rising to $490.
Rising Concerns Over Vaping Addiction
New data shows that young people are not just experimenting, but becoming more reliant on high-potency nicotine products. Tingley expressed his shock over a concerning pattern. He confessed that adolescents are going back to smoking in order to lessen their dependence on vaping.
“It hurts my soul to say that we’ve talked to some students who are using tobacco as a form of cessation from vaping because there’s less nicotine in a cigarette or a pack of cigarettes than there is in that vile substance that they’re using in the electronic cigarettes. It’s very scary to think about,” – Brandon Tingley.
Health professionals have raised the alarm over the high levels of nicotine found in many vaping products. That’s why the unit’s program manager for health system partnerships, Linda Stobo, said a wide approach was necessary. She thinks this strategy is key for addressing the problem in a meaningful way.
“We really need to look at this issue through a really complex intervention approach, where we have enforcement, education, awareness building and we need to figure out ways in which we can regulate the product to reduce health harms,” – Linda Stobo.
Educational Initiatives and School Policies
To combat this developing epidemic, local public health officials are doing more than cracking down on violators. They’ve hit the textbooks, too. Schools must be on the front lines in the battle against the vaping crisis. As one example, Strathroy District Collegiate Institute has gone proactive, installing vape detectors to deter students from using in the first place.
Educators want to bring young people in on the conversation and realize that speaking directly to them about the dangers of vaping is essential. As Stobo explained, young people are to a great extent driven by their curiosity and the trends they see on social media.
“We have young people who will always be young people and want to try new things. They want to experiment, to tap into what appears to be cool online, and they want to try it themselves,” – Linda Stobo.
In addition to changing regulations, officials are encouraging parents to talk to their kids as soon as possible about the dangers of vaping. After all, most teens don’t realize these products aren’t safe, and this misperception could have grave health consequences.
“There’s a misperception that these products are safe, so we have been countering some of that messaging for years,” – The region’s medical officer of health.
The Fight Against a Multi-Billion Dollar Industry
Even so, our fight against teen vaping is made a lot more difficult by the marketing tactics used by manufacturers. Tingley raised the point that vaping devices are often purposely made to be inconspicuous.
“They look like USBs or like lip gloss. They’re designed to be discreet,” – Linda Stobo.
Dr. Alex Summers lamented that, as an industry, we have enormous resources to try to hook new customers with these addictive chemicals. He lamented that the epidemiological consequences of nicotine addiction on young, developing brains are still not fully quantified. He thinks they are probably much bigger than we realize right now.
“The health impacts of nicotine addiction and dependency are still poorly understood and likely more significant than we think. Creating a chemical dependency on a brain that’s still trying to figure out its way in the world is going to have negative impacts on mental health, anxiety, and other issues down the road,” – Dr. Alex Summers.
As local health officials ramp up their efforts to fight the teen vaping epidemic, they must navigate many roadblocks. While enforcement is important, the need for a holistic approach, including education and community awareness, is key.
