The Vanderburgh County Health Department is starting a pilot program in response to the growing number of youths who vape. It’s called the Not On Tobacco Program.
Tobacco treatment specialist Jami Carlson with the Vanderburgh County Health Department (VCHD) said they could be the first Health Department in the state with such a program.
“We're using the American Lung Association, Not-On-Tobacco (NOT) curriculum. And we're piloting with our first 14 year old client as we speak, who is addicted to vaping.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly 8-percent of teens use e-cigarettes and most teens who are addicted to vaping want to quit.
The CDC finds that there are several factors encouraging tobacco use in teens. These include tobacco advertising that targets youth, easy product accessibility, availability of flavored products, social influences and the adolescent brain's sensitivity to nicotine.
The VCHD program will begin as a phone consultation schedule, and change to small group sessions in the fall, with teens who have been caught vaping three times. Children are referred to the Not On Tobacco Program through their school starting this fall.
“Vaping is the most prevalent use of nicotine products of our youth; we're seeing them start as young as nine and 10 years old.”
She said because of this, teens could be starting a lifelong nicotine habit.
“Once a kid starts using, he or she can quickly become addicted to nicotine,” she said. “Once a child becomes addicted to nicotine, they are more than likely will be a user of nicotine products for their whole life.”
Carlson said vaping nicotine is different from smoking it. Nicotine from vaping attaches to more brain receptors than cigarettes.
“This has been shown to cause impulse control problems, attention problems, learning problems, and make their instances of mental illness later in life higher.”
In 2023, e-cigarettes were the most commonly used tobacco product among middle and high school students in the United States. In 2023:
2.1 million (7.7%) students currently used e-cigarettes. This includes:
- 550,000 (4.6%) middle school students.
- 1.56 million (10.0%) high school students.
- Among students who had ever used e-cigarettes, 46.7% reported current e-cigarette use.
Among students who currently used e-cigarettes:
- 1 in 4 (25.2%) used an e-cigarette every day.
- 1 in 3 (34.7%) used an e-cigarette on at least 20 of the last 30 days.
- 9 in 10 (89.4%) used flavored e-cigarettes.
Students who currently used e-cigarettes:
- Most often used disposable e-cigarettes (60.7%) followed by e-cigarettes with prefilled or refillable pods or cartridges (16.1%).
- Most commonly reported using the following brands: Elf Bar, Esco Bars, Vuse, JUUL, and Mr. Fog.