BUFFALO, NY — In 2021, nearly 85 percent of middle school and high school students who used a vape or electronic cigarette used flavored e-cigarettes.
The CDCsays over 71-percent reported using fruit flavored e-cigarettes making it the most popular with this age group of several other flavors.
Candy desserts or sweet scent are the second most popular of these products, and according to experts, could be what draws teens to use them.
Andrew Hyland the Chair of the Department of Health Behavior at the Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center who says that it is important to have young adults who are using vaping devices to have a support system.
The products that are available for sale have a new chemistry and a higher percentage of nicotine comparable to cigarettes.
Hyland says the use of nicotine of any kind for kids, teens and young adults is unsafe.
He says the small compact sizes of the e-cigarettes and even the fruity flavors appeal to young teens such as rainbow candy, energy and peach is what makes the devices so popular among teens and young adults.
Which is why parents and educators should become educated on what these devices look like so they know what to look out for because they can be so small teens may start to bring them back into the classroom.
“Some people vape in places they may not be able to smoke. With young people that can be in schools. They're easily concealable, they come in attractive flavors and the packaging is super cool on a lot of these products,” said Hyland.
Maryvale School District has even placed vaping detectors in their bathrooms to stop teenagers from using the devices inside the school, Superintendent Joseph D'Angelo sent WKBW this statement:
Our Vape Detectors have served us well for three-plus years at our High School, and we are installing them in our Middle School throughout this year as well. They send alerts in real-time to administrators telling them the location of the detector that has been triggered, which allows for a quick response.
We know that vaping is unfortunately marketed in a way that targets young people, yet they may not fully understand the potentially harmful effects vaping can have on their health. In addition to helping curb the behavior in our buildings, our detectors allow administrators and student support staff to have conversations with students about the ways vaping can harm their bodies, which we hope ultimately helps to change this behavior.
If you are looking to stop vaping or smoking you can visit the New York State Quitline website, or text the free messaging hotline at DROPETHEVAPE to 88709.
