As Kids Get Hooked on Vaping, Parents Are Desperate for Treatment That Doesn ’t Exist

Jami Scheetz knew that her 15-year-old son, Devon, needed help. His grades were slipping and he had been caught vaping at school so many times that he was on the brink of being expelled. Last fall, at the start of his freshman year, Devon’s school even sent him to the hospital for drug testing after getting in trouble once again. In the emergency room, Devon finally admitted it: He was addicted. “He said to me, ‘Mom, I can’t quit on my own. I need help,'” Scheetz says. E-cigarettes are illegal for people younger than 18 (and in some states, 21) but that hasn’t stopped teens from vaping in droves. The sleekly designed devices — which heat a liquid usually packed with nicotine and other chemicals into an inhalable vapor — have eclipsed cigarettes in popularity. At a time when just 8% of high school students smoke cigarettes, more than 20% vape regularly, according to the latest federal data. These trends have stoked concerns that e-cigarettes will hook a whole new generation on nicotine, threatening years of public-health progress against smoking. The U.S. Surgeon General called youth vaping use an “epidemic” last year, and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) continues to introduce new restrictions on manufacturers in order to curb youth access to e-cigs. But as more kids get hooked on nicotine, parents, like Scheetz, are learning that resources for their kids are scarce. E-cigarette use has far outpaced science w...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized Addiction Source Type: news