Despite all the hard work put in by health officials, smoking remains a concern with young people.
According to Manitowoc County Health Department Nurse Julie Reimer, tobacco companies have “done an excellent job of luring our high school and middle school students into trying their products,” but “with the marketing of flavored e-cigarettes it seems as though the damage has been done.”
Reimer told SeehaferNews.com, that they have been conducting the Youth Risk Behavior Survey since the early 2000s, and had gotten a “nice grip on cigarette smoking back around 2011/2013, then all of a sudden we saw these e-cigarettes come into the market.”
Reimer says vaping has grown by leaps and bounds. “In fact, the middle school use, we’ve seen that grow by three-fold, from 2014 to 2019, and in our high school population, we have seen it double in just five years. That’s concerning.”
The vapor contains harmful chemicals and very fine particles that are inhaled into the lungs. She said, “when teenagers are using the product, it can result in chemical burns to the lungs.”
Reimer stated a point, ”if we can stop this behavior at an early age, they’re less likely to do it as adults.”
