E-cigarettes or electronic cigarettes are being marketed as a safe alternative to smoking, but health officials say they are not safe. Dr. Susan Walley is a pediatrician at Children’s of Alabama. She’s concerned about the increase in the use of e-cigarettes and vaping. “As a pediatrician there are two major issues with electronic cigarettes or vaping devices. One is that these are not safe products and the second is that they contain nicotine which is a tobacco product.” She believes many youth and adults don’t realize e-cigarettes contain nicotine, an addictive drug that affects the brain, nervous system and heart.
The use of e-cigarettes is on the rise. Starting in 2014, statistics show more youth use e-cigarettes than any other tobacco product. Five percent of middle school students are current users, while 16 percent of high school students consider themselves to be current users. That’s more than 3 million students.
Dr. Walley says it’s a disturbing trend, as she believes e-cigarette manufacturers are targeting children. “E-cigarette companies are using some of the same techniques that tobacco companies did decades ago by making these liquids appealing to children with candy flavors and dessert flavors,” she says. Some examples include “Skittles flavor” and “Death by Chocolate.”
Another concern, because e-cigarettes aren’t fully regulated yet by the FDA, is that the long term effects are still not fully known.
Parents who use e-cigarettes should know the liquid can be very dangerous for children. Between 2012 and 2015 the number of calls to poison control related to e-cigarettes went up by 1,492 percent. “It’s very scary,” Dr. Walley says. “These are completely preventable. There has even been a death from a child who ingested the mother’s e-cigarette liquid. The child had a seizure and couldn’t be resuscitated.”
Dr. Walley says it’s very important for parents, pediatricians and youth to be educated about the dangers of e-cigarettes and vaping. Because nicotine is so addictive, the best way to avoid the risks is to never start smoking or vaping. If a parent or child is a current user, they should talk to a doctor about ways to quit.
