The North Reading Community Impact Team has been offering informational workshops for two years, designed to help adults understand the concerns associated with vaping and the attraction for youth to start vaping. This article is intended to offer some basic information for adults to further this understanding.
Vape devices (also called e-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems) are battery-operated devices designed to deliver nicotine with flavorings and other chemicals to users as vapor instead of smoke. They can be manufactured to resemble traditional tobacco cigarettes, cigars or pipes, or even everyday items like pens or USB memory sticks; newer devices, such as those with fillable tanks, may look different. More than 250 different e-cigarette brands are currently on the market. Juul is the most popular device among youth users.
Most vapes consist of three different components: a cartridge, which holds a liquid solution containing varying amounts of nicotine, flavorings, and other chemicals; a heating device (vaporizer); and a power source (usually a battery). In many vapes, puffing activates the battery-powered heating device, which vaporizes the liquid in the cartridge. The resulting aerosol or vapor is then inhaled (called vaping).
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Vapes are designed to simulate the act of tobacco smoking by producing an appealingly flavored aerosol that looks and feels like tobacco smoke and delivers nicotine but with less of the toxic chemicals produced by burning tobacco leaves.
Although they do not produce tobacco smoke, vapes can still contain nicotine and other potentially harmful chemicals. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug, and recent research suggests nicotine exposure may also prime the brain to become addicted to other substances. Also, testing of some vape products found the vapor to contain known carcinogens and toxic chemicals (such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde), as well as potentially toxic heavy metal nanoparticles from the vaporizing mechanism. The health consequences of repeated exposure to these chemicals are not yet clear.
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Some people believe vape products may help smokers lower nicotine cravings while they are trying to discontinue their tobacco use. However, at this point it is unclear whether vapes may be effective as smoking-cessation aids. There is also the possibility they could perpetuate the nicotine addiction and thus interfere with quitting. In some cases, people have become duel-use users who vape inside and still smoke outside.
Vapes are increasingly popular among teens. Although in Massachusetts, you must be 21 to buy a vape, many youth buy online or are given the products by older siblings or family members. The availability of the product in addition to their wide array of cartridge flavors (such as bubble gum, cotton candy, donut, candy, and fruit flavors), have helped make them particularly appealing to this age group.
There are many other concerns, facets, and cultural norms related to vaping. To learn more, please consider attending a free Vaping 101 Workshop hosted by North Reading Police Department’s Detective Paul Lucci and the Drug-Free Communities Grant Director Amy Luckiewicz. The sessions will be hosted at the Flint Memorial Library Activity Room in 30-minute sessions on:
Wednesday, December 5, 2018
5:00pm – students and adults welcome
6:00pm and 7:00pm – adults only
Monday, December 10, 2018
10:00am, 11:00am, and 12:00pm – adults only
(Source: National Institute on Drug Abuse)
