decline in teen smokers as vaping gains popularity

[erictho]

hey guys.
as we all know the vaping industry hits on some interesting topics in harm reduction. we are seeing the reality of regulation more and more these days and with that comes a whole new wave of statistics and reasons for and against advocacy of this industry. one thing that i have noticed is that while addressing various concerns as vaping gains popularity is the subject of where minors lie. anticipating regulation it became important to not grant minors access to this technology. more and more often an article will come out admitting the advantages of vaping and the benefits of placing some restrictions on vaping that are consistent with tobacco regulations. these articles admit that as popularity of vaping rises that the number of adolescent smokers is also decreasing, but adolescents who have tried vaping rises.
to me this isn't that bad? i don't believe that nicotine liquid should be available to minors. if a teen is thinking about picking up a disposable nicotine free e-cig, isn't that just one less teen trying to get a cigarette? if anything i believe that it is definitely preferable that this technology be available to a minor that is seriously considering smoking. again, e-cigs are proving to be beneficial to asthmatic users. does no one remember the e-cigs that were produced to sate appetites for sweets and touted as a weight loss aid?
i am seeing this ammendment being made in otherwise positive articles about vaping. it takes me right back to being 16 when i accompanied a younger friend trying to buy nicorette so he could quit smoking. after a very short conversation with the pharmacist he refused to sell the gum to my friend. his response is that he could just get his mom to buy the quit smoking aid like she bought his cigarettes.
i know it is a slippery slope and i would definitely not freely offer nicotine free e-cigs to minors, but isn't the decline in teen smoking worth it?

 

[roxynoodle]

I think its a positive as well. Most smokers started as teens. That's the part ANTZ don't understand. We started during a time of our life when we were know it alls, became addicted, and then got stuck. Of course that's their argument; teens entering the cyce of nicotine addiction. The part they don't understand is that those kids probably would have been smokers.

If they're using no nic liquid, hopefully it will just be a fad for most, and maybe when they grow up, they'll stop vaping, too.

 

[Brandon3000]

I would definitely say it's worth it...
I'm about to turn 22 and I started smoking analogs when I was 17. Went from a cigarette or two at my University Orientation, and before I knew it, I was at 3 packs a day by midterms freshman year. Fortunately, I'm analog free now thanks to vaping.

You're right, it is definitely a slippery slope. This will probably be a pretty controversial topic, but in my personal opinion, I think it is a positive. I don't condone teenage vaping, and I definitely agree with Roxy in hoping that it's just a fad for them, but overall I view it as a positive.

 

[jambi]

Fan-boy teen vaping will definitely kill the credibility of e-cigs as smoking cessation devices. Vicious cycle..."Vaping is a gateway to smoking for teens."

 

[roxynoodle]

Fan-boy teen vaping will definitely kill the credibility of e-cigs as smoking cessation devices. Vicious cycle..."Vaping is a gateway to smoking for teens."

That's their argument, but I don't think it will be true. Why turn to cigarettes when vaping tastes so much better, and is probably safer? And the "big clouds, bro" will probably be boring by the time they're 22-25 years old.

 

[Alien Traveler]

Teen smoking was declining well before vaping was introduced.
There are no real data to support an opinion that vaping decrease smoking for teens.

 

[Robert Cromwell]

It is not legal for teens to buy cigs and it should not be legal for them to buy nic juice/ecigs. However they get both and worse and use them. So if ecigs are safer it is a good thing since the ones who choose to do something will do it anyway.

 

[juggler86]

I would definitely say it's worth it...
I'm about to turn 22 and I started smoking analogs when I was 17. Went from a cigarette or two at my University Orientation, and before I knew it, I was at 3 packs a day.

Holy!!!!! How did you find the time to smoke 3 packs a day, with 8hrs a Sleep a day thats thats lighting 1 up every 16 minutes.



I think there needs to be the same age regulations on ecigs, even though vaping is alot better then smoKing. The more minors who vape/have access only means the faster regulations and banns will happen.

 

[Brandon3000]

Holy!!!!! How did you find the time to smoke 3 packs a day, with 8hrs a Sleep a day thats thats lighting 1 up every 16 minutes.



I think there needs to be the same age regulations on ecigs, even though vaping is alot better then smoKing. The more minors who vape/have access only means the faster regulations and banns will happen.

It was freshman + sophomore year of college. What's this "sleep" that you speak of?

 

[Strings]

Y'all keep thnking that antis are reasonable people, and will respond to reasonable arguments. That will be our undoing

 

[Dzaw]

It was freshman + sophomore year of college. What's this "sleep" that you speak of?

It's the beta test version of caffine. It had the downside of several non productive hours per day, while it basically incapacitated you for the whole time you were taking it. Count on roughly 2 hours of complete uselessness for every no-doz you would normally take. I found the beta version to be a poor substitute for the final product while I was at WPI.

 

[LJGma]

I do every thing in my power when I see a young adult I know smoking, too get them to try to vape . I have had 2 success stories. and am still working on my 23 year old son he is getting there but still doesn't quite believe me he will start vaping and wont want to smoke again.. I told him he may want to smoke but will find out how much more satisfying vaping is and he wont stink wont be running out side to smoke and will feel so much better.

 

[Oberon75]

I think its a positive as well. Most smokers started as teens. That's the part ANTZ don't understand. We started during a time of our life when we were know it alls, became addicted, and then got stuck. Of course that's their argument; teens entering the cyce of nicotine addiction. The part they don't understand is that those kids probably would have been smokers.

If they're using no nic liquid, hopefully it will just be a fad for most, and maybe when they grow up, they'll stop vaping, too.

I think the ANTZ understand. They just don't care. This is all about money. It has little to nothing to do with child safety or public health.

Sent from my HTC One M8 Harman/Kardon edition

 

[WillyZee]

kids will be kids ... IMO, better they vape than smoke.

https://youtu.be/hCfHSH_v4sw

 

[James Wilson]

I'd much rather they be vaping then smoking. Their going to do one or the other anyways. Yes their usage might have been on a bit of a decline before these became big, but it was likely going to go on a rise again anyways. Raising prices and making it harder for them to get doesn't do any good. Hell people telling them not ot do it will make them want to do it more. Then there are those with depression and having issues dealing with stress. Stress was my issue and why I started smoking at 16. I smoked for 14 years. I wish to god vaping had been around when I was a teenager. It would have been a much better option for me. Yeah maybe it wouldn't have been good for me to start it had it been available, but I was going to start one regardless. I knew the health risk of smoking when I started. I didn't care once I realized how much it relaxed me and helped me to calm down.

 

[jseah]

kids will be kids ... IMO, better they vape than smoke.

https://youtu.be/hCfHSH_v4sw

They made such a big deal about how e-cigs needs to be restricted so kids under 18 cannot get them. And yet those same restrictions have been in place on cigarettes and other tobacco for decades and that never stopped kids from getting their hands on it.

 

[SissySpike]

Your assuming something is supposed to make since and be effective to become a law.

 

[Oberon75]

They made such a big deal about how e-cigs needs to be restricted so kids under 18 cannot get them. And yet those same restrictions have been in place on cigarettes and other tobacco for decades and that never stopped kids from getting their hands on it.

They claim the same crap when they push for flavor restrictions even though teens love their Newports.

Sent from my HTC One M8 Harman/Kardon edition

 

[rolygate]

In the UK, NRTs such as nicotine skin patches are licensed for use by children down to age 12. The local health orgs go around giving them to kids in schools and so on. This isn't really surprising as NRTs are probably about the the safest 'drugs' on the market, since they are just mega vitamin therapies after all. These products are also out on regular supermarket shelves, down at the lower levels where any young child can reach them.

So, it's OK to give kids nicotine products, as long as it's licensed and been subject to some sort of analysis. There is no issue with kids getting nicotine especially if it assists with less smoking.

The same ethical principle applies to ecigs of course, although the political aspect is simply impossible to digest currently. It would be impossible to offer ecigs to under-18s even to get them off smoking.

So there is a basic element of hypocrisy here that is insurmountable at present. That shouldn't be hard to understand as that is the basis of so many elements of society anyway. You could say it's the norm.

 

[jseah]

Really at the end of the day the resistance that the ANTZ have to vaping is due to the fact that it looks too much like smoking. If it was an inhaler and did not produce any vapor, like Nicotrol, there would not be the resistance to it. For the uninitiated and the unenlightened, they just see the vapor being exhaled and they automatically figure that inhaling all that "smoke" has to be bad for you. When I started vaping, my wife didn't want me vaping in front of her because she didn't want any of the "second hand smoke".