Teen E-Cigarette Use Worries Multnomah County Officials

Saturday, January 17, 2015

Joanna Evoniuk, GoLocalPDX Contributor

While cigarette use among high school students has been dropping nationally and in Oregon, e-cigarette use, or vaping, has moved in the opposite direction. In 2012, 2.8 of Oregon eleventh graders used e-cigarettes, almost double the amount from the previous yea, according to a report by the Multnomah County Health Department

In Multnomah County high schools, 10.1 percent of students have used an e-cigarette before, while 3.9 percent currently use them.

Dr. Jennifer Vines is the deputy health officer for the Multnomah County Health Department. She said the lack of regulations for e-cigarettes, and their marketing towards teens, is concerning.

“A ten-year-old can go walk into a store and buy [an e-cigarette],” Vines said. “Nicotine is highly addictive, and young people are susceptible to the drug and marketing. It’s really an issue of protecting our youth.”

E-cigarette Controversy

Oregon, along with nine other states, has no regulations banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. The liquid used for the vapor is unregulated as well, according to Vines.

E-cigarettes are advertised as being less harmful than regular cigarettes and are often seen as a way to help smokers wean off cigarettes.

However, recent studies have shown some dangerous effects to smoking e-cigarettes. The American Lung Association released a statement in August 2014 against e-cigarettes, saying the products are not proven to help smokers quit and there is concern for potential health consequences.

A 2015 study at the National Jewish Health in Denver revealed smoking the vapor from e-cigarettes can increase the risk of respiratory viral infections.

Vine said vaping still introduces young adults and teens to nicotine, which can lead to physical and mental health problems in the future, and promotes a culture of smoking.

“Adolescences a key time in how kids develop and what they think is normal,” Vine said.

Teen Smoking

In Multnomah County, 47 percent of high school e-cigarette users already smoke cigarettes. Of the eighth and eleventh graders who use e-cigarettes, 49 percent intend to smoke regular cigarettes in the future. Of teens that did not use e-cigarettes, only 17 percent intend to use regular cigarettes.

Some organizations have already taken steps to limit where e-cigarettes can be vaped. For example, the City of Corvallis has banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, as well as vaping deceives indoors or ten feet within doorways. Several school districts, colleges, and companies have included e-cigarettes as part of their tobacco-free policy.

Vine said the Health Department is working towards stricter regulations for the selling of vaping products, to limit sales to minors and increase safety for users. They are also trying to include e-cigarettes in the Oregon Indoor Clean Air Act, so vaping would be banned in the same way regular cigarettes are.

“Public health has decades of experience fighting big tobacco,” Vine said. “We are trying to get it out of the hands of our youngest people.”