TARRANT COUNTY PHYSICIAN (23)
March/April 2021
study was released recently with some great
news about vaping and adolescents: since the
beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, many
adolescents who were vaping have quit.1 In
their sample of e-cigarette-using teens, 36.5
percent reported quitting altogether and
30.8 percent had reduced their nicotine
use. As pediatricians, advocates for
healthy youth, and parents of teens, after a year of what seemed
like one item of bad news after another, this news gave us some relief.
However, we still have a long way to go—18.7 percent of youth
are still using e-cigarettes compared to 4.9 percent using traditional
cigarettes. It is now up to all of us to build on this progress to ensure
that our adolescents recognize the risks associated with vaping and
that our laws are constructed so that this trend does not reverse.
The most common reason teens listed for decreased e-cigarette
use during the pandemic was concern that e-cigarettes may weaken
the lungs. This concern comes upon the heels of the E-cigarette
and Vaping Associated Lung Injury (EVALI) epidemic in the news in
2019 and the research which shows increased risk of COVID-19
in e-cigarette and traditional cigarette users.2,3 Parents and public
health officials need to make sure that all teens are hearing these
messages. Vaping can harm the lungs directly through EVALI and
indirectly by making the user more susceptible to serious infections
like COVID-19.
Other reasons that adolescents gave for reducing e-cigarette use
were fear that their parents would find out and that they had a hard
time getting the products during the pandemic. Unfortunately, these
barriers will go away as soon as the pandemic wanes, leaving these
teens susceptible to vaping once again. It is imperative that we address
e-cigarette access and appeal to stop this from happening.
The Texas Legislature is an important partner in public health and in
protecting our youth. As we make our way through this legislative
session, there are several public policy measures that would help
this effort.
• Increase taxes on conventional cigarettes and impose an
excise tax on e-cigarettes that is the same as combustible
cigarettes.
• Restrict the sale of all flavors, including menthol, in tobacco
products and e-cigarettes.
• Require all e-cigarette retailers to obtain a permit to sell
e-cigarette products, similar to the current tobacco retailer
permit.
Together, we can make Texas a healthier place for our teens.
Let’s take this much-needed good news and build on it to make
sure it lasts.
References
1Gaiha SM, Lempert LK, Halpern-Felsher B, “Underage Youth and Young Adult e-
Cigarette Use and Access Before and During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic,”
JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(12):e2027572. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.27572
2CDC’s Office on Smoking, and Health. 2020, “Smoking and Tobacco Use; Electronic
Cigarettes,” https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lungdisease.
html.
3Gaiha, Shivani Mathur, Jing Cheng, and Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, “Association between
Youth Smoking, Electronic Cigarette Use, and COVID-19.” The Journal of Adolescent
Health: Official Publication of the Society for Adolescent Medicine, 67 (4): 519–23, 2020.
A
GREAT NEWS
ON TEENS AND
VAPING—NOW
LET’S BUILD ON IT
Opinion
Seth D. Kaplan, MD
President, Texas Pediatric Society
Lindy U. McGee, MD
Executive Legislative Committee, Texas Pediatric Society
Assistant Professor, Baylor College of Medicine
Suzi Kennon
President, Texas PTA
Ernest Hawk, MD, MPH
VP for Cancer Prevention, The University of Texas MD
Anderson Cancer Center