If your child is one of the more than 3 million youth who are using e-cigarettes, like JUUL, they’re at risk for nicotine addiction.
Recent data show that e-cigarette use increased by 78 percent among high school students and by 48 percent among middle school students from 2017 to 2018. JUUL, the popular e-cigarette that tripled its market share in just over a year to own three-quarters of the entire market, is driving much of the increase in use.
With e-cigarette use among youth now at “epidemic proportions,” according to the Food and Drug Administration commissioner, many parents are searching for solutions to help their kids quit. If you are a parent and want to help your child quit using JUUL or other e-cigarettes, here are some tips for how to start from the experts behind the evidence-based, digital quit-smoking programs from Truth Initiative®, This is Quitting and BecomeAnEX®.
Get educated and then educate.
Parents need to be aware of the dangers of e-cigarette use, including the fact that young people who use e-cigarettes are four times more likely to start smoking cigarettes. E-cigarette use among youth also puts them at risk for early nicotine addiction, which can harm brain development and make adolescent brains more susceptible to other addictive drugs.
Additionally, nicotine levels in e-cigarettes are highly variable, with some reaching levels near combustible cigarettes. For example, the amount of nicotine in one standard JUUL cartridge is roughly equal to the amount of nicotine in a pack of cigarettes, or about 200 puffs, according to the product website. On top of that, the maker of JUUL claims the product delivers nicotine up to 2.7 times faster than other e-cigarettes.
Many youth aren’t even aware that they’re consuming nicotine when they use e-cigarettes, and 63 percent of young people who use JUUL don’t know that the product always contains nicotine. The majority of e-cigarette users think they vaped only flavoring, not nicotine, the last time they used a product. However, 99 percent of e-cigarettes sold in U.S. convenience stores, supermarkets and similar outlets in 2015 contained nicotine.
Truth Initiative – February 21, 2019.
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