Young Kids Vaping. How do you feel about it?

[Jman8]

p.s. I didn't say it was directed at you, i just agreed that it applies to you as well

It might be telling though, that some members here think of you when they read the definition !

As I've said before, I'd rather back up my rhetoric beyond soundbites and loaded questions. Thinking through issues has its merits.

 

[Mazinny]

As I've said before, I'd rather back up my rhetoric beyond soundbites and loaded questions. Thinking through issues has its merits.

cool story ! all that matters is that you believe it, i suppose. i'm not really angry or anything. it's all good.

preach on !

 

[AndriaD]

There's a name for this, I can't recall it right now. I heard it recently in a discussion about a change in some aspect of wealth distribution in America. This had been changing on a straight line since around 1980. For 8 years it was Bush's fault. Then it became Obama's fault for the last 6 years. Soon someone else will start getting the blame for it.

I'm not sure how you would prove a cause and effect relationship between a decrease in smoking and an increase in vaping, even if it's there.

SmokeyJoe talks about the 20% Prevalence Rate effect. This applies to the population as a whole, I don't know if 20PR can be applied directly to teenagers. Does a drop in the smoking rate among teens mean there will be a drop among adults down the road, or just people starting later? Is the anti propaganda working? Are teens smarter these days? Is the availability of vaping reducing the movement of teens into smoking? Is 20PR breaking down? Everyone will tend to apply their own best guess to it. Common sense indicates to me that there would be a connection, but that's not proof. I haven't seen any convincing proof though it may be there and I haven't come across it.

I think the "starting later" is definitely true, so maybe they're somewhat smarter -- my own son, around my smoking since birth, didn't start till he was almost 19 -- and has since quit, though it remains to be seen how long that may last; he's told me that he sometimes has very strong temptations, but now, knowing how effective vaping has been for me, he says that if he ever decides to give in, he'll vape instead of smoke -- so yay!

I think all the lying and shaming has had a serious effect, though; even some of the "worst example" teens I've run across treat those who smoke tobacco like lepers, though they themselves may smoke other things. I wasn't quite 14 when I started, and though I hid it from my parents for several years, it wasn't seen as "the worst possible thing that can happen" as it has come to be, in more recent years.

Andria

 

[AndriaD]

As I've said before, I'd rather back up my rhetoric beyond soundbites and loaded questions. Thinking through issues has its merits.

I agree -- and I've also been accused of "writing novels" in my forum posts.

Andria

ETA: It just reminds me of a very funny Steve Martin bit from the 70s.. "Some people have a way with words, and some people... not have way."

 

[englishmick]

I wasn't quite 14 when I started, and though I hid it from my parents for several years, it wasn't seen as "the worst possible thing that can happen" as it has come to be, in more recent years.

Andria

Yeah sure. I was around 14 too. And I thought I was hiding it from my parents. I have a feeling it wasn't as well hidden as I thought at the time. If a smoker comes round to visit me today I know as soon as they walk through the door.

 

[mcclintock]

Actually, I find caffeine's 'addictive potential' to be fairly mild; I've gone off and on and off it many times in my life, and the 'withdrawal' (godawful headaches mainly) can be pretty tough, but they don't take too long to ease; the first time I weaned myself from it, it was from a 10-cup-a-day coffee habit, and sometime in the late afternoon when that horrible headache would really start pounding, I'd drink a little tea and it would ease; since tea has so much less caffeine than coffee, it's a good way to wean off the high caffeine levels of coffee or Mtn Dew or Dr Pepper. That first time getting off caffeine was the worst, but it was done within a week.

Last summer I discovered I needed to drastically reduce my caffeine intake so I could hang on to more of my body's hydration, and I went from 10 cups a day of hot tea to just 2 in the morning, and decaf tea the rest of the day -- since it wasn't a total elimination of caffeine, just an 80% reduction, I suffered no headaches at all -- but my hydration issues almost completely vanished.

If that type of tolerance/dependence is the worst that can happen to those who use nicotine without having first been a smoker, then I really don't see any problem with adolescents using it; it can be a real boon with ADD, and isn't nearly as harmful as the BP drugs to treat that problem. If the kid has never developed an addiction to *smoking* then he or she is NOT going to become a "lifelong nicotine addict" anymore than kids who drink coca-cola become "lifelong caffeine addicts."

Andria

I maybe went overboard on caffeine's addictiveness but it should not be underestimated. It is more interesting in larger quantities than nicotine which is more self-limiting, and therefore its "potential for abuse" is higher I think. I have a tendency towards tension anyway, which it makes worse. Also, love the stuff (most of the time). Definitely not for banning it.

 

[AndriaD]

I maybe went overboard on caffeine's addictiveness but it should not be underestimated. It is more interesting in larger quantities than nicotine which is more self-limiting, and therefore its "potential for abuse" is higher I think. I have a tendency towards tension anyway, which it makes worse. Also, love the stuff (most of the time). Definitely not for banning it.

I don't actually like it that much; if I drink a whole Dr Pepper now, I feel like my whole body is "pinging"... really not a pleasant feeling. I'd eliminate it entirely, except I LOOOOOOOOOOVE Twinings English Breakfast tea, and the decaf version has had more than the caffeine removed... they also remove every bit of its marvelous aroma, which is the reason I pay extra to get that kind, instead of some American tea -- American tea has no aroma at all. So I have a couple cups in the morning, and decaf iced tea the rest of the day.

It's a great home remedy for any kind of headache, though...

Andria