The Vape Deception

More than 2.5 million youth used vaping products in 2022, including 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students. Most use flavored e-cigarettes.

by Dr. Joseph Mercola

STORY AT-A-GLANCE

• More than 2.5 million youth used vaping products in 2022, including 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students. Most use flavored e-cigarettes. Fruit flavors are the most popular, followed by candy and dessert flavors

• Flavored e-cigarettes appear to be the most harmful. Research shows vaping with mango- or mint-flavored pods increases the inflammatory process in multiple organ systems, with the most striking changes happening in the brain, which may contribute to behavior changes and mood disorders

• E-cigarette vapor disables the ability of macrophages to engulf bacteria and protect pulmonary function. This type of damage increases lung cells vulnerability to dust, bacteria and allergens. It also increases our risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• Single-use and refillable vaping cartridges have been found to contain fungal contaminants associated with asthma, COPD, reduced lung function and inflammation of the lungs

• One of the largest-ever studies conducted on the health effects of vaping found that adult e-cig smokers have a significantly higher chance of heart disease and mental health problems than nonsmokers

While many are under the impression that e-cigarettes or vaping is safer than smoking traditional combustible cigarettes, evidence is heavily stacked against this notion. Unfortunately, this information isn’t reaching the masses, and teens are becoming addicted to vaping in droves. As reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF):¹

“When the FDA [U.S. Food and Drug Administration] first asserted the authority to regulate e-cigarettes in 2016, many people assumed the agency would quickly get rid of vapes with flavors like cotton candy, gummy bears, and Froot Loops that appeal to kids.

Instead, the FDA allowed all e-cigarettes already on the market to stay while their manufacturers applied for the OK to market them. Seven years later, vaping has ballooned into an $8.2 billion industry, and manufacturers are flooding the market with thousands of products — most sold illegally and without FDA permission — that can be far more addictive ...

[T]oday’s vapes have become ‘bigger, badder, and cheaper’ than older models, said Robin Koval, CEO of the Truth Initiative, a tobacco control advocacy group. The enormous amount of nicotine in e-cigarettes — up 76% over five years — can addict kids in a matter of days, Koval said.

E-cigarettes in the U.S. now contain nicotine concentrations that are, on average, more than twice the level allowed in Canada and Europe. The U.S. sets no limits on the nicotine content of any tobacco product.

‘We’ve never delivered this level of nicotine before,’ said Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, which opposes youth vaping. ‘We really don’t know the long-term health implications.’”

Vaping Has Skyrocketed Among Youth

According to U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data,² more than 2.5 million youth used vaping products in 2022, including 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students. Most of these children (84.9%) reported using flavored e-cigarettes, with fruit flavors being the most popular at 69.1%, followed by candy and dessert flavors at 38.3%.

Disturbingly, flavored e-cigarettes appear to be the most harmful, so in addition to appealing to children, they may also cause the most harm to health.

For example, research³ published in April 2022 found that vaping with mango- or mint-flavored pods increases the inflammatory process in multiple organ systems, with the most striking changes happening in the brain, which may contribute to behavior changes and mood disorders. They also found early signs of cardiovascular disease after just three months of inhaling flavored Juul e-cigs three times a day.

Illegal Vaping Products Are Flooding the Market

In January 2020, the FDA finalized its enforcement policy on unauthorized flavored cartridge-based e-cigs that appeal to children. In a press announcement,⁴ the agency warned that companies must immediately cease manufacture, distribution and sale of all flavored cartridge-based e-cigarettes, with the exception of tobacco flavor and menthol.

As of August 8, 2016, all cartridge-based e-cigarette products are required to apply for and receive premarket authorization from the FDA’s tobacco authority⁵ Since then, the FDA has received some 26 million applications,⁶ a volume the agency simply hasn’t been able to handle.

As a result, illegal products have flooded the market. Many manufacturers never even bother to apply for authorization. They simply cash in for as long as they can.

What’s more, since the FDA’s policy only applies to cartridge-based vaping products, sale of disposable products, which were foolishly exempted from the flavor ban, have skyrocketed by 1,500% since early 2020 alone.⁷ According to the FDA, it has rejected all but 23 premarket review applications received so far, and all the approved products were for traditional tobacco flavors intended for adult smokers.⁸

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