Are Your Kids Vaping?

Big Tobacco hopes so and they’re making it really easy

What do hoodies, backpacks, highlighters, USB drives and ballpoint pens have in common? All of these and more can disguise vapes to help kids hide their addictions from parents and teachers. Without a doubt, to help build their customer base and create lifelong addicts, the tobacco industry is targeting our kids.  

At the start of the school year, we are reminded to keep an eye out for kids walking to school and buses picking up kids, but we should also be keeping an eye on our kids falling victim to the addiction of tobacco. The industry pumps out kid-friendly flavors like menthol, spearmint, cotton candy, blueberry and the list goes on. Flavors attract kids and help disguise the smell and taste of nicotine and ease the actual process of vaping or smoking.  

Studies have shown that 4 out of 5 those who are using tobacco started with a flavored product and nearly 15 percent of Maryland kids use e-cigarettes. Tobacco use within minority groups is even higher because of deliberate and strategic target marketing. Flavored tobacco products are also highly addictive and hard to quit. In fact, many e-cigarettes contain as much nicotine as a pack of 20 cigarettes or more.  

Flavored tobacco products severely impact kids’ health and wellness. Smoking and tobacco use causes disease and disabilities. The United States Surgeon General warns that nicotine exposure during adolescence and young adulthood can cause long-term harm to brain development. Smoking can cause harm to nearly every organ in your body. In Maryland, nearly 30 percent of cancer deaths are attributable to smoking.  

Ask anyone who works at your kids’ school and they will tell you that flavored tobacco products are a public health crisis and on the rise. While Maryland has raised the age of tobacco use to 21, they still find ways to get their hands on these products. Maryland prohibits the sale of some flavored tobacco, but it exempted menthol — the most popular and highly addictive flavor. Reach out to your lawmakers and ask them to take action and pass legislation that stops the tobacco industry’s relentless targeting of our kids and helps further protect public health. If you need to find your representatives, visit www.mdelect.net.  

Talk to your kids about tobacco use and how addictive it is – especially when flavored. We must stand together to fight back to stop an industry that profits billions of dollars off addicting our children. If you need help, reach out to your pediatrician, local health department or your health insurance company. All of them have very useful tools and helpful information for starting the conversation with kids and ending their addiction.  

Susan O’Brien is the director of State Communications for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids and can be reached at sobrien@tobaccofreekids.org.  

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