Tag: teen vaping

Florida High School Bans Bathroom Breaks Over Vaping Concerns

The school’s principal says that students have been taken to the emergency room “on a weekly basis” as a result of vaping.

Students at a high school in Florida’s Palm Beach County will no longer be able to take bathroom breaks during class, allegedly due to what High Times described as “widespread e-cigarette use.”

Dr. Colleen Iannitti informed her students at Jupiter High School during its daily video announcements that use of the bathroom at school would be limited to the six minutes allowed for students to travel between class periods.

Dr. Iannitti claimed that students have been found vaping in the bathroom since the start of the school year, which prompted the ban, which was been met with a mixed response from parents.

Emergency Room Visits Because Of Vaping

In the video, Dr. Iannitti explained that the bathroom ban was due to students “going to the bathrooms so [they] can meet up with [their] friends and smoke and vape and do all those kinds of things that [they] shouldn’t be doing in the bathroom.”

Iannitti also claimed in the video that students have been taken to hospital emergency rooms “on a weekly basis” as a result of vaping.

WPTV in Palm Beach spoke to the Palm Beach County Fire Rescue, which stated that they had responded to 10 calls at Jupiter High for “a variety of incidents,” and that eight people had been taken to hospitals.

There Are Bathroom Breaks For Emergencies…With An Escort

Under the new rules, students at Jupiter would only be permitted free access to school bathrooms during the six minutes allotted for them between classes. Teachers would not give students’ permission to use the bathroom during class, except in the case of an emergency, for which the student would be escorted to the bathroom by an assistant principal.

Iannitti also added that she would consider lifting the new restrictions, but only if students could abide by the rules “for the next few weeks” after which she would “see if we can get students to stop vaping in our bathroom[s].”

According to WPTV, the decision has generated some concern among parents of students at Jupiter High. “I understand the concern from the school’s point of view,” said parent Jeff Glassgold. “I just don’t know if it’s the most efficient or effective privacy matter as far as having someone follow you around when you use the restroom.”

Coverage from High Times also noted that for some students – especially those with disabilities or identify as transgender, and who may already have anxiety regarding bathroom use – the new rules may seem more restrictive and even punitive.

View the original article at thefix.com

4 November 2019
Concentrated Cannabis Is Potent, Hard To Detect And Popular Among Teens

According to a new study, 72% percent of teens who had tried marijuana had used the concentrates.

Nearly a quarter of teens report using highly concentrated cannabis products, often vaped in e-cigarettes, which can increase their risk of mental health complications and future drug use.

According to a study published this week in the journal Pediatrics, 24% of 8th, 10th and 12th graders surveyed had tried a marijuana concentrate. One-third of youth surveyed had tried marijuana, the study found. Seventy-two percent of teens who had tried marijuana had used the concentrates.

Health experts say that the findings are concerning because they show that the use of concentrates is prevalent. However, since concentrates are used with e-cigarette devices, or as edibles, they can be hard for parents to detect. This is especially true because they don’t have the same distinct smell as traditional cannabis.

Dr. Abigail Schlesinger is chief of the behavioral science division at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. She told NBC News that parents need to be aware of cannabis concentrates, and that they can have long-term effects for teens.

Parents Get Informed

“Parents need to know about the risks,” Schlesinger said. “This is not your grandparents’ cannabis. It’s more concentrated. And there’s a lot of reason to believe that in the adolescent years, it alters brain development.

Parents and other adults need to make it clear to teens that vaping or using edibles is as dangerous as smoking pot.

She said, “Parents need to be clear that they don’t support cannabis use. Because if we don’t give a clear message, then teens can take it as a tacit statement that it’s OK. That doesn’t mean you say they will be expelled from the family if they try something. But we need to tell them that if they do these things, they may not reach their full potential.”

The study found that teens who used concentrates were more likely to engage in other drug use as they got older. Youth who had used concentrates were more likely to have tried other drugs as well.

Study author Madeline Meier, who teaches psychology at the Arizona State University, said that parents need to know about how teens are using cannabis concentrates.

“I don’t know that parents know about this stuff,” Meier said. “If I weren’t a marijuana researcher, I don’t know if I saw [a vape with marijuana] that I would know what it was. Parents should educate themselves about what these forms of cannabis look like.”

View the original article at thefix.com

30 August 2019
Teen Posts Photos Of Collapsed Lungs To Warn Others Against Vaping

“I don’t think anyone could have said anything to make me stop. But your lungs will most likely look like this too if you’ve been smoking,” the teen warned.

A teen has posted photos of his collapsed lungs on social media to warn people against vaping.

Chance Ammirata, 18, shared his story with the New York Post. A year and a half ago, Ammirata started vaping. He had never smoked before, and he was under the impression that vaping was safe. Then he had to be rushed to the ER, and believes his collapsed lung was caused by toxic chemicals in the Juul pod he inhaled.

The Incident

Ammirata first had a pain in his side, and initially thought he pulled a muscle. The next day, “It felt like my chest was collapsing, like I was having a heart attack.” Once he was in the hospital, he had to have a tube put in his chest to keep his lung inflated.

After surgery, a doctor told him, “Whatever you’ve been smoking has been leaving these black dots on your lungs” and it would take years to potentially heal them.

Because of the black spots on his lungs, Ammirata won’t be able to do cross-country running or scuba diving, and he won’t be able to fly on a plane for a while either. He then went on social media with a warning:

“You thought Juuls were safe. So did I. The black dots on my lungs are all [remnants] of juuling. I’ve been doing it for a year and a half and can never do it again. You really shouldn’t either. I know how hard it is to change anyone’s mind who’s addicted because I was too. And I don’t think anyone could have said anything to make me stop. But your lungs will most likely look like this too if you’ve been smoking.”

Ammirata concluded his posts by pleading, “Don’t let it get worse. Please stop. Like really please. It’s so fucking scary.”

In response to Ammirata’s story, a spokesperson for Juul stated, “We have no higher priority than consumer safety… We have robust safety monitoring systems in place and will vigilantly monitor for any evidence of safety issues as we continue to combat youth usage and eliminate cigarettes, the number one cause of preventable death in the world.”

View the original article at thefix.com

17 August 2019
Schools, Parents See Spike In Problematic Behavior Due To Vaping

Some schools have taken doors off bathrooms to limit the likelihood of students vaping in them.

As a high school freshman, Kristin Beauparlant began noticing changes in her son, Cade. During hockey games, he began to tire more easily, often having coughing fits. But Kristin says the onset of anxiety and mood swings was what really concerned her.

Over the next three years, the Washington Post reports, the Beauparlants eventually identified the problem: Cade had become reliant on nicotine via Juul, a type of e-cigarette resembling a USB drive.

According to the Post, the rise of e-cigarettes has sparked concern for young users, as pediatricians say they are seeing teens “who behave less like tobacco users and more like patients with [substance use] disorders.”

Health Harms

In addition to behavioral changes, nicotine use can lead to nicotine toxicity, as well as respiratory issues. In fact, Beauparlant was diagnosed with restrictive lung disease due to vaping. Beauparlant’s family is one of the few to try suing e-cigarette companies. Cade’s mother hopes it will lead Juul to fund treatment programs.

“We were thinking about vapes just like we thought about cigarettes,” Sharon Levy, director of the Adolescent Substance Use and Addiction Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, tells the Post. “Over time we realized no, no. This is something really different.”

One potential reason for the teen behavior associated with e-cigarettes like Juul is their design which allows for greater intake of nicotine than normal cigarettes.

“With the Juuls, kids are able to get a much higher dose of nicotine—and dose matters,” Levy said. “These kids have behaviors that we often see in patients who have opioid or marijuana addiction, but we didn’t typically see with kids who developed addiction to traditional tobacco cigarettes.”

In response, Juul has claimed their products are designed for adult use and claims that studies have shown nicotine from their devices to be absorbed more slowly than nicotine from cigarettes.

According to Jonathan Winickoff, pediatrician and researcher at Massachusetts General Hospital with a specialization in tobacco cessation, products proven to help adults quit tobacco may not have the same effect on teens.

“We have millions of kids now, millions of adolescents who are using mostly Juul—and in some cases other devices—who are unable to quit,” Winickoff tells the Post. “It’s something we don’t have the infrastructure to deal with.”

Schools Take Action

The use of e-cigarettes has become especially problematic in schools. Some schools have even turned to forbidding the use of USB drives since they look like Juuls. Others have taken doors off bathrooms to limit the likelihood of vaping in them.

Once Beauparlant’s son was caught vaping, the athlete was no longer allowed to play hockey. This took away any chance of playing in college as well. But after treatment from Winickoff, Kristin Beauparlant says she began to see her son return.

“We kind of lost four years of Cade to this addiction,” she told the Post. She adds that now that Cade isn’t vaping daily, “He just seems like a different kid. You can’t help but say there’s a correlation.”

View the original article at thefix.com

7 August 2019
Teens Hospitalized For Vaping-Related Breathing Problems

The teens were experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea and diarrhea, among other symptoms.

Eight teenagers in Wisconsin were hospitalized in July with breathing issues that doctors believe are related to their use of e-cigarettes, or vapes.

The teens were admitted to the Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin, which held a press conference about the cases. The hospital’s chief medical officer, Dr. Michael Gutzeit, spoke about the teens.

“We suspect that these injuries were caused by vaping,” he said, according to CNN Health.

The teens were experiencing shortness of breath, chest pain, nausea and diarrhea, among other symptoms. When they underwent chest X-rays, doctors found that the teens had swollen and inflamed lungs.

“The severity of health condition has varied, with some patients needing assistance in order to breathe,” Gutzeit said. He noted that the teens are all improving, but the conditions were concerning given that vaping is so popular among young people.

Vaping Risks

Many teenagers believe that vapes are relatively harmless. However, the “e-liquids” that is being vaporized contain nicotine, chemicals and sometimes heavy metals that can be harmful. Gutzeit said it is important that teenagers and their parents understand and talk about the risks of vaping.

“It’s very important for teens and parents to understand more about vaping. Talk to each other. Understand the risks of vaping,” he said.

While teen cigarette use continues to decline, vaping is becoming more popular. Research shows that 20% of high schoolers and 5% of middle schoolers use e-cigarettes. The rate of vape use increased by more than 900% between 2011 and 2015, research has found.

Recently, the e-cigarette company Juul, which controls 70% of the U.S. market for e-cigarettes, hired a pediatrician and researcher as its executive medical officer. The company claimed that the appointment of Dr. Mark Rubinstein was a way to ensure that young people are not using vapes, but some are worried that the company has ulterior motives.

“Even if you believe in harm reduction, to go work for a tobacco company… to me goes against everything that anybody doing control should believe in,” Stanford University professor Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, who trained Rubinstein during his time at UCSF, told Kaiser Health News.

Opponents of e-cigarettes say that since their popularity has been rising so quickly, it’s imperative that the public understand the health risks of vapes, particularly for young people.

View the original article at thefix.com

1 August 2019
Juul Appoints Former Addiction Researcher As Medical Director

Critics feel the move is an attempt to control the research surrounding e-cigarettes and teen nicotine use.

The e-cigarette giant Juul Labs has appointed a former critic best known for researching the dangers of nicotine for teens brains as its new medical director, prompting skepticism from people concerned about the company’s targeting of young users.

Pediatrician Mark Rubinstein became Juul’s executive medical officer last week. Previously, Rubinstein was a lead researcher at the University of California San Francisco’s Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

He has spoken about the dangers of vaping for teens, so his alignment with a company known for being popular among teenagers was very surprising to many who know him.

“Even if you believe in harm reduction, to go work for a tobacco company… to me goes against everything that anybody doing control should believe in,” Stanford University professor Bonnie Halpern-Felsher told Kaiser Health News. Halpern-Felsher trained Rubinstein during his time at UCSF.

Teen Vaping Epidemic

The FDA has proclaimed that e-cigarette use among teens is an epidemic, with 20% of high schoolers trying the products last year.

Juul Labs claims that it hired Rubinstein as part of its effort to reduce teen use of its product. However, many experts are not convinced that Juul—which holds 70% of the American market for e-cigarettes—has the greater good in mind.

“Part of Juul’s strategy is to create credibility and buy influence by hiring everybody who would take their money. We shouldn’t be fooled: Juul created the youth e-cigarette epidemic and refuses to take responsibility for it,” said Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids spokesperson Vince Willmore.

Some people feel that Juul’s employment of Rubinstein is an attempt to control the research surrounding e-cigarettes and teen nicotine use.

Director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education, Stanton Glantz, said he felt “shocked and depressed” about Rubinstein joining Juul.

Critics of the appointment say that Juul is acting like Big Tobacco, which controlled the narrative and research around cigarettes for decades.

“I understand why scientists are concerned about a program like this, and I think they should be,” said George Washington University professor David Michaels, who has studied corporate influence on science and research.

John Schachter, with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, said, “To us, Juul is Big Tobacco 2.0.” He pointed out that the company has sponsored legislation that it says would reduce teen nicotine use, but that opponents say would remove local government controls over restrictions on e-cigarette products.

View the original article at thefix.com

27 July 2019
Juul CEO Says "Sorry" To Parents Of Vaping Kids

The Juul CEO apologized during an interview in the documentary Vaporized: America’s E-cigarette Addiction.

When asked what he’d tell a parent of a child who was addicted to the popular e-cigarette company Juul Labs’ products, the company’s CEO, Kevin Burns, said that he was “sorry.”

Burns, who was interviewed as part of a CNBC documentary, Vaporized: America’s E-cigarette Addiction, which airs Monday, July 15, said that Juul products are not intended for use by children, and that as a parent of a teenager himself, he had “empathy for them, in terms of what the challengers they’re going through [sic].”

Juul, which comprises an approximate 40% of the e-cigarette industry, has made efforts to make its products less appealing for young consumers, including the closure of its US-based social media accounts.

A Fifth Of High School Students Vape

But with studies showing that 21% of American high school students used a vaping product in 2019, health advocates, and in particular, former Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, are pointing to Juul as the source of the problem.

In the documentary, CNBC reporter Carl Quintanilla asked Burns about parents of young Juul users while touring one of the company’s manufacturing plants in Wisconsin.

“First of all, I’d tell them that I’m sorry that their child’s using the product,” he said. “It’s not intended for them. I hope there was nothing that we did that made it appealing to them. As a parent of a 16-year-old, I’m sorry for them, and I have empathy for them, in terms of what the challenges they’re going through.”

Too Little, Too Late

As CNBC noted, Juul has attempted to counter interest among young people through a variety of measures, from eliminating fruit-flavored products, closing its Stateside social media accounts and supporting initiatives that recommend raising the minimum smoking age to 21.

For some critics, these efforts are too little, too late. CNBC quoted Juul co-founder Adam Bowen, who concurred with critics about the company’s early advertising efforts, which appeared to concentrate on elements that could appeal to young consumers – youthful models, bright colors, use of memes and cartoon imagery. Bowen called these efforts “inappropriate,” but also suggested that they had “no impact on sales.”

Outgoing FDA Commissioner Gottlieb made e-cigarettes’ appeal to young consumers, and in particular, Juul’s impact on that demographic, one of the focal points of his tenure.

He issued warnings and money penalties to retailers that illegally sold their product to minors and took steps to cut off online sales of their product to young consumers, but held up a key deadline that would have required e-cigarettes to submit to an FDA review that would have determined their public health benefits or threats. He later expressed reservations about the decision.

View the original article at thefix.com

16 July 2019
Juul's Popularity On Instagram Explored In New Study

Researchers uncovered nearly 15,000 Instagram posts related to Juul, all of which were posted over a three-month period in 2018.

Thousands of posts about the e-cigarette brand Juul appeared on Instagram in just a three-month period in 2018, and more than half were focused on cultures or lifestyles related to young people.

Those are among the findings in a new study in the online journal Tobacco Control, which, as UPI noted, also included posts comprised of content that promoted means of purchasing Juul-related products at a reduced cost.

Spokesperson: Juul Is Cutting Back On Digital Marketing

A spokesperson for Juul said that the company itself only issued eight posts on Instagram during that three-month period, and has actively sought to reduce digital marketing and social media listings, which medical specialists have claimed can contribute to the appeal of such products among young people.

The study—conducted by researchers from the non-profit public health organization Truth Initiative, as well as New York University, the University of Chicago and Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health—looked at discussions of Juul and its products on social media by using hashtag-based keyword queries to collect posts about the e-cigarette brand.

They uncovered nearly 15,000 Instagram posts related to Juul, all of which were posted between March and May of 2018. More than half of the posts (55%) contained what UPI described as “youth-related content”—memes, cartoon images and celebrity references, and using Juul products at home, school or other places that were likely to be frequented by teenagers.

Another 57% of the posts also mentioned or specifically highlighted using Juul with family or friends during social activities, while approximately one in 10 also mentioned the addictive properties of nicotine, albeit in a “fun light,” as UPI said.

Juul Deactivates Facebook, Instagram

Lindsay Andrews, a spokesperson for Juul Labs, said that six of the company’s eight Instagram posts in the time period covered in the study were testimonials from former adult smokers.

Andrews also said that in November 2018, the company deleted its Facebook and Instagram accounts, removed thousands of social media listings by third parties—including more than 25,000 individual Instagram posts—and limited its Twitter usage to non-promotional items like press releases.

But some health specialists remain skeptical of these efforts. Dr. Len Horovitz, a pulmonary specialist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City said, “Every young person has Instagram, and that’s how they share information. The actual industry doesn’t have to do anything but let the people using the device share their insights, and advice and encouragement.”

Study senior researcher Elizabeth Hair, who is also the senior vice president of Truth Initiative’s Schroeder Institute, said that stricter regulation on social media could help to stem the tide of posts she and her co-authors uncovered.

“If we can stop the promotional pieces of it, I think that will help stem a lot of it,” she said. “A lot of this content was from companies that were selling the product and had these promotional aspects to it.”

View the original article at thefix.com

14 July 2019
Teen Injured By Exploding E-Cigarette

The e-cigarette explosion caused extensive wounds to the young man’s mouth, including a broken lower jaw and missing teeth.

A 17-year-old boy suffered severe facial injuries, including a broken jaw, when an e-cigarette exploded in his mouth.

The incident and the extent of his injuries were detailed in a report published in the New England Journal of Medicine and penned by the pediatric trauma surgeon who treated him after the explosion.

While incidents of e-cigarettes or “vapes” exploding are rare, they can cause serious injuries, and two fatalities have been reported as the result of such an explosion.

According to coverage of the report by Live Science, the explosion, which took place in March 2018, required the teenager to be sent more than 200 miles from his home in Ely, Nevada to an emergency room in Salt Lake City, Utah, where he was treated by the report’s co-author Dr. Katie Russell, a pediatric trauma surgeon at the University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital in Salt Lake City. The boy had suffered extensive wounds to his mouth, as well as several missing teeth and a broken lower jaw.

Russell and other doctors had to remove several additional teeth from the boy’s mouth because their sockets had been irreparably damaged. A dental plate was installed under his lower gums to stabilize his jawbone, and his jaw was wired shut for six weeks to allow his mouth to close properly.

Russell told Live Science that she and her colleagues published the report because they had been shocked by the extent of the damage caused by the explosion.

“When I met this patient, I had no idea that a vape pen could do this,” she said. “It takes a lot of force to break your jaw.”

According to a report issued by “Tobacco Control,” an estimated 2,035 burn and explosion injuries from e-cigarette use were reported by U.S. hospital emergency rooms between 2015 and 2017.

Since the event reported in the case study, more explosions have been reported, including an incident in January 2019 when a 24-year-old Texas resident died after a metal shard from an exploding vape entered his neck and severed an artery.

The exact reason for the explosion has yet to be determined, but as the Times reported, various sources have suggested that the lithium-ion battery used in vape products can overheat to the point of explosion.

A 2017 report from the Federal Emergency Management Agency noted that such batteries “are not a safe source of energy for such devices,” while a blog post from the Massachusetts General Hospital Research Institute said that vaping devices that employ an “open system” – which include a rechargeable battery with reservoirs that are filled with e-liquid – are less safe than ones with closed systems, which use pre-filled cartridges that attach to a rechargeable battery, or ones that can’t be recharged.

The Food and Drug Administration offered a list of safety suggestions for e-cigarette users, including the use of devices with safety features, keeping loose batteries away from metal objects (to prevent an accidental charge), replacing wet or damaged batteries, and keeping vape devices away from extreme heat or cold.

View the original article at thefix.com

25 June 2019
School To Begin Random Nicotine Testing To Combat Teen Vaping

The school is also considering installing “Wi-Fi-enabled sensors” in bathrooms and locker rooms to detect vapor or “sounds associated with smoking.”

A new school district policy in a rural Nebraska community illustrates the wider concern over teenage vaping.

Starting this fall, as the new school year begins, some public school students at Fairbury Junior-Senior High School (FJSHS) will be subject to random nicotine testing, as the school district tries to dampen the popularity of e-cigarettes.

Superintendent of Fairbury Public Schools Stephen Grizzle—who called vaping a “widespread epidemic”—discussed the new policy with the New York Times. He said they have observed rising incidents of vaping on school grounds—classrooms, restrooms, locker rooms and more.

In one year, Fairbury Junior-Senior High School saw a steep rise in disciplinary incidents involving nicotine—mostly vaping. The number rose from seven incidents in the 2017-2018 school year, to 30 incidents in the 2018-2019 school year.

“We are really wanting this to be a preventive, proactive measure,” Grizzle said. “We are not wanting to punish kids. We are wanting to give them a reason to say no.”

The policy only applies to students participating in extracurricular activities like sports and marching band—who already have agreed to random drug testing for illicit or performance-enhancing drugs.

About 60% of kids at FJSHS—which serves almost 400 students in grades 7-12—participate in extracurriculars. Under the new policy, 20-25 of these kids will be randomly selected once a month for a drug screening conducted by the school nurse.

If they test positive, they will suspended from participating in extracurricular activities for 10 days. If they fail a second nicotine screening, they will be suspended for 45 days and must pay for themselves to attend substance abuse counseling. For a third offense, they will be forced to sit out of extracurriculars for 12 months.

Apparently this policy isn’t the school district’s only “bright” idea. According to the Times, they are also considering installing “Wi-Fi-enabled sensors” in bathrooms and locker rooms to detect vapor or “sounds associated with smoking.”

E-cigarettes were originally marketed as a tool to quit smoking, offering an alternative deemed safer than combustible cigarettes. However, it’s become increasingly popular among young people.

As a result the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has been cracking down on e-cigarette companies in the name of reducing and preventing youth vaping.

“In enabling a path for e-cigarettes to offer a potentially lower-risk alternative for adult smokers, we won’t allow the current trends in youth access and use to continue, even if it means putting limits in place that reduce adult uptake of these products,” said former FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb in a 2018 statement.

View the original article at thefix.com

24 June 2019