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Category Archives: Vaping

Siouxland District Health offers new vaping prevention curriculum for youth – Sioux City Journal

Posted: February 16, 2024 at 4:23 pm

SIOUX CITY Siouxland District Health Department is using a new curriculum to educate Siouxland's youth about the harmful effects of tobacco use and vaping.

"You, Me, Together Vape Free," a Stanford University evidence-based curriculum, features interactive lessons that teach elementary, middle and high school students about how vaping impacts their health.

Anais Mares, Siouxland District Health Department's health promotion specialist and tobacco prevention coordinator, said the curriculum makes students aware of the strategies manufacturers and sellers of vaping products use to target young people, as well as teaches important skills that can be used to refuse e-cigarettes when they are offered.

"Ultimately, it was created to reduce and prevent the use of any type of vaping, including nicotine, THC and other harder drugs among kids and youth," Mares said.

A high school principal displays vaping devices April 10, 2018, that were confiscated from students in such places as restrooms or hallways at

According to the FDA's 2023 National Youth Survey, tobacco and vape use has decreased among high school students from 16.5% in 2022 to 12.6% in 2023. However, 2.8 million youth currently use any tobacco product. Tobacco/vape use among middle school students has increased from 4.5% in 2022 to 6.6% in 2023.

"Normally, in Woodbury County, our vaping rates are higher than Iowa overall," Mares said. "Nationally, we're seeing a downward trend, which is good."

Mares said youth are introduced to vaping through various means, including friends, family members and social media. Although Mares said the long-term effects of vaping on the body are unknown, she said it's not harmless.

"We don't have really a lot of data to say, 'If you vape, this is going to happen to you.' We do know that nicotine affects the way the brain continues to develop. So, it will affect brain development in teens and young adults," she said. "Nicotine is linked to cardiovascular disease. The biggest problem, though, is that nicotine is an extremely addictive substance. With its high addictiveness, it can lead to other nicotine use, like cigarettes, which we know can cause cancer and all of these other issues."

Mares has presented the curriculum to youth groups, including Girls Inc. She said student response to the curriculum has been positive.

"It's a very interactive course, so they'll get a chance to answer a bunch of questions, do some activities. It's very hands-on. I think that makes a huge difference with how kids and teens sometimes learn," she said. "I think the way it's presented at their level just helps them better understand what's going on and why these products are harmful to use at such a young age."

If you would like to offer this curriculum to youth or want additional information, contact Mares at 712-279-6119 or amares@siouxlanddistricthealth.org.

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Siouxland District Health offers new vaping prevention curriculum for youth - Sioux City Journal

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Protecting Youth From the Dangers of Vaping: What’s Been Done, What’s Needed – Pulmonology Advisor

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Protecting Youth From the Dangers of Vaping: What's Been Done, What's Needed Pulmonology Advisor

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Protecting Youth From the Dangers of Vaping: What's Been Done, What's Needed - Pulmonology Advisor

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Vaping’s negative impact on fertility – FOX 26 Houston

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Vaping's negative impact on fertility FOX 26 Houston

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Vaping's negative impact on fertility - FOX 26 Houston

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Wake Forest families address vaping and smoking risks involving children – CBS17.com

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Wake Forest families address vaping and smoking risks involving children CBS17.com

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Wake Forest families address vaping and smoking risks involving children - CBS17.com

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When Doctors Are the Source of Public Health Misinformation – Reason

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Most Americans understand that smoking is harmful. It remains a leading cause of preventable death in the United States. A growing number of Americans does not understand that vaping and non-combustible tobacco products are far less risky. In a recent article, Jacob James Rich and I explored why this might be.

One source of public misunderstanding could be that doctors are often unaware of the extensive research concluding that vaping, while not risk-free, is substantially less risky than smoking (such that were all smokers to switch to vaping, tens of thousandsif not millionsof premature deaths could be averted). While reports by the National Academy of Sciences and Public Health UK (among others) have concluded that vaping exposes users to significantly lower contaminant levels and is likely to be substantially less harmful than smoking, one recent study found that 60 percent of doctors believe all forms of tobacco are equally harmful.

While some medical professionals are simply unaware of what can be said about the relative risks of smoking versus vaping, others seem intent on spreading disinformation. For instance, here's a TikTok by a cardiovascular surgeon claiming that vaping "is significantly worse than cigarette smoking." This is an outrageous and unfounded claim. Worse, insofar as this message is internalized by current smokers, it could discourage them from switching to less harmful sources of nicotine.

[Note: Even if this claim is based upon experience with EVALI victims, suggesting that EVALI is a consequence of vaping generally, when EVALI has been linked to black-market THC vaping fluids containing vitamin E acetate, is still quite irresponsible. There is no documented case of EVALI that has been linked to conventional vaping products.]

It is one thing to discourage vaping, as it is not risk-free (and there is limited evidence about its long term effects). It is quite another to suggest that vaping is equal or worse than smoking.The latter is misinformationand the sort of misinformation that could cost lives.

When Doctors Are the Source of Public Health Misinformation - Reason

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Local public health educator discusses dangers of vaping – Standard-Democrat

Posted: at 4:23 pm

AP Photo/Steven Senne In this April 10, 2018, file photo, a high school principal displays vaping devices that were confiscated from students in such places as restrooms or hallways at the school in Massachusetts. Recent research has shown that all methods of vaping introduce toxins into the lungs.

By Gina Williams

Standard Democrat

SIKESTON While some people try to avoid inhaling potentially toxic aerosols,many teenagers and young adults today are intentionally bathing their lungs in dangerous chemicals.

Brenda Freed, health educator with the Scott County Health Department in Sikeston, said when vapes and e-cigarettes first became popular, many believed they were harmless.

When the e-cigarettes first came out, the advertisements led you to believe that it was just water vapor, that it was a harmless way to smoke, Freed recalled.

According to Freed, recent research has shown that all methods of vaping introduce toxins into the lungs.

Vaping, however, has not been around for as long as cigarettes have, so we dont know the full effect of vaping compared to cigarettes, but we do know that any chemical that is inhaled and goes into the lungs does damage to the lungs, Freed said.

Freed said if the lungs are damaged, it can lead to a variety of lung difficulties, including lung disease and even cancer.

According to Freed, one of the specific lung diseases is emphysema, which is a type of lung disease that causes breathing difficulty and is typically caused by vaping or smoking.

Freed said while there is no cure for emphysema, the condition can be managed with drugs and lifestyle changes.

Other vaping statistics that many people are unaware of include the fact that one vaping Juul pod pack is equivalent to 20 cigarettes, as well as the fact that nicotine is found in 99% of all e-cigarette products available in the US.

Fifty-one percent of teenagers think that it is only flavored water, and advertisements started out as gearing toward kids, Freed said. Another alarming statistic is that 41% of United States teens have tried vaping and out of those 41% of teens, 31% of them do other drugs such as marijuana. Its a gateway drug.

According to Freed, the big myth was that vaping was innocent but now they know that it is dangerous, yet the U.S. Food and Drug Administration does not regulate vaping devices.

So that tells us that we dont always know what is contained in them, Freed added. So its not being carefully studied, which is a problem.

Freed also debunked the idea that vaping is a safe way to quit smoking, but Freed said both are, in fact, harmful.

According to Freed, there are numerous strategies to quit smoking and vaping.

Whether youre smoking or vaping, you need to make a plan, Freed said.

Freed said there is a 1-800 QUIT NOW quit smoking program and there are also online programs.

For teens who would like to quit smoking or vaping, visit https://mo.mylifemyquit.org/ or text Start My Quit to 36072

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Local public health educator discusses dangers of vaping - Standard-Democrat

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