Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the Mississippi state health officer, wants more residents to be aware of what he calls the “eminent public health threat created by the explosion of childhood vaping.”
Advocates of this new type of smoking, whose name is derived from the word “vapor,” say it’s healthier than traditional cigarettes because there’s no tobacco in the product. Given tobacco’s century-old track record of causing serious medical problems for smokers, it’s no endorsement to claim that vaping is less risky.
Dobbs certainly is no fan. While believed to be less harmful than tobacco products, he wrote that vaping “releases many chemicals with known toxicities.” Long-term effects are not known, but early research “shows a strong association with vaping and cardiovascular disease.”
Unfortunately, vaping has caught on with the younger crowd: More than 28% of high school students and more than 12% of middle school students smoke regularly.
“Personal communications with educators and teens in Mississippi suggest even more frightening numbers,” Dobbs wrote. “Vaping is a tobacco product and has become a true epidemic among our youth.”
The vaping percentages seem to be in the range of today’s adults who used tobacco as teens.
While vaping omits tobacco, it does not omit nicotine, and that’s Dobbs’ biggest concern.
He wrote that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to man, one that can seriously affect the reasoning and cognitive functions that are still developing in teenagers.
“Teens who vape nicotine are 3.5 times more likely to smoke combustible tobacco later in life,” Dobbs wrote. “And in studies of smokers, we know that nicotine addiction is associated with triple the risk of opioid abuse.
“Nicotine addiction is also strongly associated with mental health disorders, such as anxiety and depression. Nicotine is not a safe product for anyone, especially teens. We must do everything we can to protect the next generation of adults from the destructive effects of nicotine addiction.”
To do this, Dobbs has four proposals:
• Tax vaping products at the same rate as tobacco products. That means a big price hike.
• Pass a state law forbidding the sale of all nicotine products to those less than 21. A federal law does this, but a state law would give Mississippi officers enforcement powers.
• Register businesses that sell nicotine and hold them accountable for sales to minors.
• Make sure the penalty for illegal sales are strong enough to discourage breaking the law.
