The “Other” Youth Vaping Epidemic: Why Has It Been Ignored?

While the CDC and many health groups have been obsessed with youth e-cigarette use, an even more troubling epidemic has been spreading among our nation ’s youth. In contrast to the e-cigarette use explosion, which has not caused any significant disease or deaths, this other, ignored epidemic has caused hundreds of youth to develop life-threatening respiratory failure and has been responsible for 13 deaths.What is this “other” vaping epidemic?It ’s not vaping of e-cigarettes. It’s the vaping of marijuana.In my analysis of data from the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, I found that the majority of youth who currently use e-cigarettes also report having vaped marijuana or THC vape cartridges.Specifically:Of ever e-cigarette users, 41.8% report having vaped marijuana or THC.Of current e-cigarette users (those who used in the past 30 days), 51.9% report having vaped marijuana or THC.Of regular e-cigarette users (those who used at least 10 days in the past 30 days), 63.1% report having vaped marijuana or THC.Of heavy and potentially addicted e-cigarette users (those who used every day in the past 30 days), 66.8% report having vaped marijuana or THC.While the CDC and many state health departments have focused on the fact that many youth are vaping e-cigarettes with “kid-friendly” flavors, they have all overlooked the fact that the majority of these youth are also vaping marijuana vape carts or vape pens with even more “kid-friendly” flavors, including: &nbs...
Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs