fcnbd -- Dedicated to Teen Vaping Prevention

It’s a problem that’s out of control.

Despite the warnings – repeated ad nauseam – about the health risks, the number of Kiwi teenagers vaping is soaring.

Auckland University researchers have found that half of all secondary school children have tried e-cigarettes, and 29 percent of them have become daily vapers.

They are easy to get, with around 3,000 websites selling them, mostly to teenagers.

E-cigarettes are nicotine-delivery devices that don’t contain tobacco, and don’t produce smoke or tar, and that’s what makes them so appealing.

Researcher Dr Chris Bullen said the risk of nicotine addiction was clear.

“There is an ongoing and significant rise in e-cigarette use amongst children which needs to be addressed,” he said.

So how can we stop our children from taking up this harmful habit?

We asked experts what we can do.

“Just say no” is what most parents tell their kids, but that doesn’t work.

“The reality is that many young people are going to take up vaping regardless of what adults think,” says Dr Chris Wilkins, a senior lecturer at Massey University’s School of Health Sciences.

Dr Wilkins says vaping companies sell their product on the idea of rebellion – that their products are cool, and being seen with them will make you popular.

He says adults have to understand that teenagers need to stand out from the crowd, and when vaping is so widespread, there’s little difference between a vaper and a non-vaper.

“It’s this sort of thing that makes not taking up something like vaping cool,” he says.

“If we want to stop young people taking up vaping, then we have to make it uncool.”

He says adults need to take a leaf out of the anti-smoking playbook, and highlight the risks for smokers.

“I’m not proposing that we tell lies to young people,” Dr Wilkins says.

“But we need to accept that many of them are going to vape regardless of what we say, so we need to keep them informed about the dangers.”

That’s something Eugene Livingstone agrees with.

He’s a senior in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Auckland, and he’s studied vaping in New Zealand.

“There’s no evidence to suggest that vaping is any safer than smoking,” he says.

He says vaping companies highlight only the benefits of switching from traditional cigarettes to e-cigarettes, but there are harms.

“There is some evidence to suggest that using e-cigarettes could make it harder to quit,” he says.

Dr Livingstone says e-cigarettes mimic the action of smoking, and they can be just as addictive.

“There is some evidence that young people who vape can become nicotine dependent,” he says.

He also says there is some evidence e-cigarettes can act as a gateway to smoking cigarettes.

“There is a suggestion that e-cigarettes might introduce young people to smoking,” he says.

Dr Livingstone says vaping companies are marketing their products to teenagers on social media and at events.

“Vaping companies use the same sort of marketing tactics that cigarette companies use,” he says.

“It’s all about cool and peer groups.”

So what can we do?

Both Dr Wilkins and Dr Livingstone say it’s up to adults to help young people understand the risks.

“Kids are going to take up vaping regardless of what adults think,” Dr Livingstone says.

“If we don’t talk to them about the risks, they might take up vaping, and then they’ll have a problem.”

He says parents should ask their kids, not whether they’re vaping, but whether they’re thinking about it. Additionally, parents need to keep an eye out for the warning signs that their child may be vaping.

And most importantly, don’t assume that just because your kids are talking to you, you’re talking to them.

“It’s about having the conversations,” Dr Livingstone says.

“If you don’t have the conversations, it will be much harder to convince your kids not to vape.”

It is all too common for people to believe that nicotine is a non-toxic substance. This is because they have not looked into the topic and have just blindly assumed that nicotine itself is not bad for you because it is addictive. This is not the case. Nicotine is a powerful and deadly stimulant that is just as bad as caffeine in the sense that it is addictive and a poison that has killed people.

One common question about nicotine is whether it is carcinogenic. The short answer is that yes, it is. This has been confirmed in many studies. A recent study , for example, found a strong link between nicotine and cancer. This has been known for years. There was a small chance that nicotine was not carcinogenic but this has been finally laid to rest.

Another question that people might ask is if nicotine is an enzyme inhibitor. This is a complicated question to answer because of how the effects of nicotine are complicated. It does have enzyme inhibiting properties but whether this is a good thing or a bad thing is not certain. Although it is not certain, the fact that nicotine is an enzyme inhibitor is enough to conclude that it is not a very good substance and can definitely cause some problems.

When someone smokes an ordinary cigarette, the nicotine that is inhaled is absorbed into the bloodstream rapidly. This absorption is so rapid in fact that it is almost instant. The amount of nicotine in the blood increases drastically. This causes the body to react in a very interesting way. The person will feel an extreme rush of pleasure and energy. This is the effect that creates the addictive nature of the substance. At the same time, the pleasure circuits of the brain are being stimulated. The increased amount of dopamine and other pleasure related neurotransmitters will cause a person to feel very good.

This feeling is short lived. It does not take long before the high is over and the person will be left feeling very depressed and tired. It is during this time that a person will crave nicotine. This, of course, leads to the downward spiral of addiction.

This is the basic cycle of addiction that is found in all addictions. The high is followed by a low which is followed by an urge for more of the drug. It is the cycle of addiction that is the deadliest for a person.

The physical effects of nicotine are also quite severe. Nicotine is a stimulant which causes the heart to beat faster. It also causes vasoconstriction which makes the blood pressure rise. Both of these things can cause problems but neither can be compared to the damage caused by smoking. The biggest problem is the carbon monoxide in the smoke. Smoke is not good for anyone’s health and the carbon monoxide is deadly.

There have been many studies done on the effects of nicotine and almost all of them have found that nicotine is indeed a toxin. This is why nicotine replacement therapies are not recommended. They may work as a way to quit smoking but they are not healthy for the body.

The nicotine in the replacement therapies is not freebase. This is very important because the freebase form of nicotine is much more powerful. The freebase form of nicotine can be absorbed into the lungs which is a much faster process than having the nicotine swallowed.

Nicotine is both addictive and toxic. It is only useful because of how it interacts with the body. Without this interaction, nicotine would be worthless to the body and would be excreted just as any other toxin would be. The body is extremely efficient at ridding itself of toxins. This is because toxins are a poison to the body and will damage it if they are not removed. On top of being a poison, nicotine is also addictive. The addiction and the tolerance to nicotine make it highly unlikely that nicotine will be removed from the body.

It’s hard to think of a worse way for a teenager to spend his free time than vaping, a new study suggests.

Vaping — inhaling vapor from a device that heats a liquid — is a rising form of substance abuse among teenagers.

While some vaping devices aren’t dangerous, others contain large amounts of nicotine and other addictive chemicals.

Teens are particularly at risk, as their brains are still developing and an early nicotine addiction can lead to lifelong problems with tobacco.

“They start with what they think are these harmless e-cigarettes and all of a sudden a year or two goes by and they’re smoking cigarettes and getting hooked on full-strength, regular nicotine,” said Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

“It’s just a bad idea. I don’t know why they do it.”

There’s a serious anti-smoking movement among teenagers — and the teens understand the risks of tobacco. But a new study suggests that they’re not thinking about the consequences of using e-cigarettes until it’s too late.

The study, which was published last Friday in the journal Pediatrics , found that teenagers who thought they would definitely not smoke cigarettes in the future were still likely to start vaping.

“The results showed that teens who used e-cigarettes were more likely to say they would smoke cigarettes in the future and less likely to say they would definitely not smoke,” said study author Michelle D. Sexton, of the University of Southern California.

“Teens may be experimenting with e-cigarettes without understanding that nicotine can be addictive.”

E-cigarettes contain nicotine, but the amount decreases over time. That’s part of the appeal: People who want to quit smoking use them to slowly reduce their intake of nicotine.

“That’s what the manufacturers say,” Horovitz said.

“But you’re not gonna get a nicotine fix if you’re vaping. I don’t think it’s gonna be any help for nicotine addiction.”

Nicotine in large doses can be addictive

Nicotine in high doses can be dangerous. A 2015 study found that just one hit off an e-cigarette was enough to cause immediate heart palpitations in some people.

The best way to quit smoking is to talk to your doctor. Nicotine replacement therapies like patches and gum can be helpful, while other medicines are more powerful but have more potential side effects.

There’s no shortage of advice online, either.

“People can find self-help resources through the American Cancer Society, the American Lung Association and the CDC,” said Edward Anselm, of the University of California, Los Angeles, who co-authored the Pediatrics study.

“The more research you do and the more you learn about quitting, the more likely you are to quit.”

Teens are not just being misled about the potential benefits of vaping, they’re not thinking about the risks either.

“Teens may get into e-cigarettes without understanding that nicotine can be addictive,” Sexton said.

“Teens who use e-cigarettes may be setting themselves up to try regular cigarettes in the future.”

If you’re a teenager who’s been vaping, it’s not too late to quit. Get help and avoid a lifetime of nicotine addiction.

“The key is to be aware and learn as much about it as you can,” Anselm said.

“If you’re older and have started vaping, you still can quit. The sooner the better.”