Clearing the air on vaping risks

METRO DETROIT — While vaping was originally marketed to replace cigarettes and some teens say it helps them with stress, health officials say the opposite is true.

Alliance for Coalitions for Community Health Prevention Outreach Specialist Justen Daniels said a lot of health complications come with vaping, including damage to the lungs, heart problems, gastrointestinal issues and more.

He said vape cartridges are filled with hundreds of cancer-causing chemicals.

“The majority of vape pens or vape products are going to contain nicotine, and they’re going to contain a lot of it — a lot of potency,” Daniels said.

He said Stanford’s Reach Lab shared a study that one type of vape pen, which has around 5,000 puffs, has the nicotine equivalent of around 590 cigarettes.

“I don’t think folks are realizing how much nicotine is in there and how addictive that nicotine is,” Daniels said.

Youth are more susceptible to nicotine or THC — a cannabinoid found in marijuana — dependence because their bodies and brains are still developing, Daniels said. The youngest he’s seen or heard of a person having a vape pen is around 8-years-old.

He said that though he doesn’t have a definitive answer of whether cigarettes or vape pens are more harmful, they are both very addictive.

Megan Phillips, Oakland Community Health Network’s director of substance use and disorder services, gathered information about the dangers of vaping.

A document from the organization states that nicotine addiction can cause harm to a person’s mental health, but more research is needed to understand the connection between vaping and mental health. It also states that studies show those who quit smoking experience lower anxiety, stress and depression, and experience a better mood and quality of life.

“Oakland Community Health Network, alongside our prevention partners, The Alliance, and Oakland County Health Division, work tirelessly to educate community members on the dangers of vaping,” Phillips said in email.

Vaping products can affect brain development, memory, attention, learning, mood and mental health, the Health Division states.

“Additionally, vaping devices may produce vapor containing lead, which can cause brain damage,” the Health Division states.

The age to purchase vape products is 21 years old in both Michigan and nationally, though kids still manage to get these products by employees not age checking IDs, connections with older friends and sharing or by fake IDs Daniels said.

“Because technology has gotten so sophisticated, so a lot of times it’s easy to pick up on a fake ID, so a lot of times they will take an older sibling’s ID,” Daniels said.

“The most common reason middle and high school students give for currently using e-cigarettes is, ‘I am feeling anxious, stressed, or depressed,’” the document from OCHN said.

The document went on to say, though, that vaping can actually increase these feelings.

Daniels said that if an underage person looks enough like their older sibling, a quick glance will not give away that they are underage. These IDs will not trip the scanners because they are legal IDs.

Underage people who are caught with vaping can face consequences.

Daniels said in the worst case scenario underage people could face a misdemeanor. They can also face detention, suspension and expulsion at school.

“We are seeing so many of our schools take an interest in restorative programming and alternatives to suspension programming,” Daniels said.

He went on to say that if a child is kicked out of school for vaping, they are going to go home and vape.

“It defeats the purpose,” Daniels said. “And so we have a lot of folks who are doing friends of the court programs.”

Vaping products like Juul became popular around the late 2010s, and Daniels said he still considers it very new.

“Especially within the grand scheme of, you know, how long it took the cigarette and everything to come out,” Daneils said. “It took around 100 years for a lot of that information about cigarettes and some of its potential impacts, some of its potential harmful health implications to come out.”

Vape products were originally marketed as a product to help adults stop smoking tobacco, and they were marketed for adults. Daniels said now it’s really hard to identify vape products due to their evolution and how they are made to blend in as electronic cigarettes. Daniels said there are vapes that look like smart watches, key fobs, straws and more.

Parents should educate themselves through education programs and presentations so they can recognize vape products.

“Sometimes you don’t know what you don’t know,” Daniels said. “And that’s one of the good things about our organizations with the alliance.”

He went on to say they have programs to educate parents and community members about what vapes look like, the health implications and much more.