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KNOW THE RISKS:

YOUTH AND E-CIGARETTES

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QUIZ

Some

e-cigarettes

are safe for youth.

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QUIZ (1)

Some

e-cigarettes

are safe for youth.

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TOPICS 1

2.

What Are The Health Risks?

What Leads

To E-cigarette Use?

What Can You Do About It?

2

3

4

1

What Are �E-cigarettes?

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NO MATTER WHAT YOU CALL IT, IT’S AN E-CIGARETTE

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E-CIGARETTES COME IN MANY DIFFERENT SHAPES

E-cigarettes are devices that heat a liquid into an aerosol that the user inhales.

E-cigarettes are devices that heat liquids containing nicotine or other drugs, such as marijuana, into an aerosol that the user inhales. E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults: A Report of the Surgeon General (cdc.gov)

�

An aerosol is a suspension of fine solid or liquid particles in gas. Aerosol Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

E-cigarettes come in lots of different shapes.

Some e-cigarettes look like regular tobacco products, such as cigarettes. But in recent years, we’ve seen e-cigarettes that look like other things, including USB flash drives, pens, and other everyday items. Puff Bar, Vuse, JUUL, and SMOK are examples of common e-cigarettes shaped like USB flash drives.

In 2022, the most common type of device used by middle and high school students was disposable e-cigarettes. Notes from the Field: E-cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2022 | MMWR (cdc.gov)

But regardless of what you call it, these are all e-cigarettes and none of them are safe for young people to use.

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QUIZ .

E-cigarettes create a harmless water vapor.

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QUIZ . .

E-cigarettes create a harmless water vapor

E-cigarettes create a harmless water vapor.

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E-CIGARETTES MAKE AEROSOL, NOT VAPOR

Source: Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults | CDC

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QUIZ,

Most

e-cigarettes contain nicotine.

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QUIZ . .

Most

e-cigarettes contain nicotine.

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TOPICS 2

What Are The Health Risks?

What Leads

To E-cigarette Use?

What Can You Do About It?

2

3

4

1

What Are �E-cigarettes?

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WHAT IS NICOTINE?

Source: www.dictionary.com

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NICOTINE COMES IN DIFFERENT TYPES

pH Scale

00

Free- Base Nicotine

Nicotine Salts

We’ve told you what nicotine is, but did you know there are different types of nicotine?

The pH scale measures how acidic or basicity (alkalinity) a solution is.

An acidic solution has a high concentration of hydrogen ions (H+), greater than that of pure water. Examples of acidic items include lemons, soda, and batteries. A basic solution has a low H+ concentration, less than that of pure water. Examples of basic or alkaline solutions include baking soda, toothpaste, and eggs.

So why are we showing you this? Well, pH matters when it comes to how harsh feeling nicotine is on one’s body, particularly one’s throat when nicotine is being inhaled.

Most nicotine in cigarettes and some e-cigarettes is what we call free-base nicotine, which means it’s an alkaline on the pH scale. Since free-base nicotine is an alkaline, it has a harsh feeling on your throat.

Nicotine salts are considered an acid and are less harsh feeling on your throat. This is of particular concern for young people because it allows for nicotine to be used more easily, which increases the likelihood of trying an e-cigarette and getting hooked.

Another type of nicotine is synthetic nicotine, which is made in a lab rather than derived from the tobacco plant. Examples of e-cigarettes that are made with synthetic nicotine include Puff Bar and Elf Bar.

It does not matter if the nicotine comes from tobacco plants or made in the lab: nicotine is addictive and can harm the developing brain.

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QUIZ .

Nicotine harms brain development.

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QUIZ .. .

Nicotine harms brain development.

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HOW DOES NICOTINE IN E-CIGARETTES IMPACT THE BRAIN?.

Youth who use nicotine can harm the parts of the brain that control attention, learning, mood, and impulse control.

Source: Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults | CDC

Important growth is happening in your brains and will continue to happen until you are about 25 years old. The brain is the last organ in the human body to develop fully. Exposing the brain to nicotine, while it’s in this important developmental phase, can cause addiction and harm the brain.

Why? Think about it like this, each time a new memory is created or a new skill is learned, stronger connections – or synapses – are built between brain cells. Nicotine changes the way these connections, or synapses, are formed, which can harm the parts of the brain that control attention and learning.

For youth, any exposure to nicotine is unsafe. Putting nicotine in the body is dangerously addictive, and it can also prime the brain for addiction to other tobacco products, or other drugs, like cocaine.

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NICOTINE USE CAN LEAD TO ADDICTION

Food and Drug Administration’s My Vaping Mistake: How It Became an Addiction

Let’s talk about addiction.

Youth are especially sensitive to nicotine’s addictive effects because their brains are still developing, and this makes it easier to get hooked. The use of nicotine can rewire a youth’s brain to become more easily addicted to other drugs.

Nicotine is quickly absorbed into the body and goes directly to the brain. Nicotine activates areas of the brain that makes a person feel satisfied and happy.

Nicotine addiction can look different from person to person. Some signs of nicotine addiction include:

Cravings, or feeling the need to use tobacco.
Going out of the way to get tobacco.
Feeling anxious or irritable if you want to use tobacco but can’t because you are in school.
Continuing to use tobacco because you find it hard to stop.

As a reminder, e-cigarettes usually contain nicotine.

Nicotine & Addiction | Smokefree Teen

Video from the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) My Vaping Mistake: How it became an addiction(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpKMWFaptwE)

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NICOTINE ADDICTION AFFECTS YOUR MENTAL HEALTH

Food and Drug Administration’s The Real Cost Campaign: My Vaping Mistake: How It Affected My Mental Health

When a person is dependent on (or addicted to) nicotine and stops using it, their body and brain have to get used to not having nicotine. This can result in temporary symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms include irritability, restlessness, feeling anxious or depressed, trouble sleeping, problems concentrating, and craving nicotine. People may keep using tobacco products to help relieve these symptoms.

Youth may turn to vaping to try to deal with stress or anxiety, creating a cycle of nicotine dependence. But nicotine addiction can be a source of stress.

What may start as social experimentation can become an addiction.

The most common reason U.S. middle and high school students give for trying an e-cigarette is “a friend used them.”
The most common reason youth give for continuing to use e-cigarettes is “I am feeling anxious, stressed, or depressed.”

Youth e-cigarette and cigarette use have been associated with mental health symptoms such as depression.

Quick Facts on the Risks of E-cigarettes for Kids, Teens, and Young Adults | CDC

Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) The Real Cost Campaign: My Vaping Mistake: How It Affected My Mental Health https://youtu.be/RRgJY4HKiK8

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BEHAVIOR RISKS

Youth who use e-cigarettes may be more likely to smoke regular cigarettes in the future.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults. A Report of the Surgeon General. Atlanta, GA: U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, Office on Smoking and Health, 2016.

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E-CIGARETTE POISONINGS

Source: American Association of Poison Control Centers

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NE POISNONING AND PETS

NICOTINE POISONING AND PETS

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��E-CIGARETTES AND THE ENVIRONMENT

Not only are e-cigarettes not safe for youth, they pose a significant environmental threat.

E-cigarette waste introduce plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals, lead, mercury, and flammable lithium-ion batteries into waterways, soil, and to wildlife.

E-cigarette waste is not biodegradable and when left on the streets, eventually break down into microplastics and chemicals that flow into the storm drains to pollute waterways and wildlife.

Let’s watch the Truth Initiative’s® ad, Trash Talking Trash, on the impact e-cigarettes have on the environment. Trash Talking Trash | truth (thetruth.com)

Resources:

Truth Initiative®: E-Cigarette-Waste-Report-FINAL-042821.pdf (truthinitiative.org)

Public Health Law Center: Commerical-Tobacco-Health-and-the-Environment.pdf (publichealthlawcenter.org)

Food and Drug Administration: Tips for Safe Disposal of E-Cigarettes and Nicotine Waste (hhs.gov)

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TOPICS 3

What Are The Health Risks?

What Leads

To E-cigarette Use?

What Can You Do About It?

2

3

4

1

What Are �E-cigarettes?

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Most U.S. Youth Are Exposed to E-Cigarette �Advertising, NYTS 2021

E-CIGARETTE ADVERTISING: �70.3% OF MIDDLE AND HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS

RETAIL STORES

58.7%

14.37 MILLION

TELEVISION, STREAMING SERVICES, OR MOVIES

21.7%

5.24 MILLION

INTERNET

36.0%

8.97 MILLION

NEWSPAPER OR MAGAZINES

28.7%

3.50 MILLION

Source: Gentzke AS, Wang TW, Cornelius M, et al. Tobacco Product Use and Associated Factors Among Middle and High School Students — National Youth Tobacco Survey, United States, 2021. MMWR Surveill Summ 2022;71(No. SS-5):1–29.

Youth are exposed to e-cigarette advertising.

And these messages come in many different forms, whether it’s store signs, television ads, movies, the Internet, social media ads, magazines with cool images, or newspapers….it’s all around you.

And big tobacco is one of the main contributors. They spent $8.2 billion in the year 2019 on marketing their products. Costs and Expenditures (cdc.gov)

E-cigarette ads reach nearly 4 in 5 middle and high school students, and youth exposure to these ads has increased in recent years.

E-cigarette companies are targeting young people and making a lot of money off it.

Here are a few examples of how they are doing it.

E-cigarette marketing ads are using themes including sexual content, independence, rebellion, and celebrity figures to appeal to youth and young adults.

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USE OF FLAVORS IS PROMINENT AMONG YOUTH

About 8 out of 10

middle and high school students who currently use e-cigarettes use a�FLAVORED product

Cooper M, Park-Lee E, Ren C, Cornelius M, Jamal A, Cullen KA. Notes from the Field: E-cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2022. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep 2022;71:1283–1285. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15585/mmwr.mm7140a3�

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QUIZ ..

The tobacco industry can sell any type or flavor of e-cigarettes they wish.

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QUIZ .

The Food and Drug Administration regulates all tobacco products.

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AGE TO BUY E-CIGARETTES

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TOPICS 4

What Are The Health Risks?

What Leads

To E-cigarette Use?

What Can You Do About It?

2

3

4

1

What Are �E-cigarettes?

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HELP YOUR SCHOOL GO TOBACCO FREE

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FREE QUITTING RESOURCES

Food and Drug Administration’s The Real Cost: My Vaping Mistake: How It Impacted My Sports Performance

Quit Vaping | Smokefree Teen

Truth Initiative® This Is Quitting

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MOST IMPORTANT TAKEAWAY��There is no safe tobacco product, including e-cigarettes.