In the Nov. 16 article on youth vaping, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb was quoted as saying, “I will not allow a generation of children to become addicted to nicotine through e-cigarettes.”

Where have you been, Mr. Gottlieb? Vaping has tripled in use by teens since 2013.

JUUL, the most popular vape device on the market, accounts for more than half the sales of electronic cigarettes in the United States. The FDA was supposed to begin regulating the electronic cigarette industry in 2016 but has delayed its regulation to 2020 and possibly 2022.

I work in schools across the U.S. talking to teens about drug and alcohol prevention. JUULing is the hottest topic on my agenda. Schools are begging me to focus on it because they have seen student use increase dramatically in the past two to three years. Teens are already addicted, Commissioner Gottlieb. Some teens admit to vaping a pod a day, the equivalent of a pack of cigarettes. Teens have told me they have peers who vape two pods a day. That amounts to 400 vapes, or two packs of cigarettes a day.

Nicotine is one of the most highly addictive drugs on the market. A list of chemicals in e-cigarettes recently published by Stanford University shows the presence of chemicals such as lead, arsenic and formaldehyde. Most teens don’t have a clue these chemicals are invading their lungs.

The more we can educate teens, parents and school communities on the harmful effects of vaping, the sooner we can hopefully reverse the tide of teen addiction to nicotine.

Barbara Sullivan

Drug and alcohol prevention specialist

Portland

Related Stories