Who knew that in today's classroom, students in middle school or high school could sneak a hit of nicotine from something that looks like a flash drive, or a pen, or lipstick.
They can, and they do.
Why so much adult hand-wringing about this adolescent craze? Vaping's sort of like smoking cigarettes, but without the lung-clogging, cancer-causing tar, right?
Not exactly. There's still a lot we don't know about the long-term health effects of vaping, one reason why parents and school officials should be more hands-on about reversing vaping's popularity among teens.
Along with nicotine, vaping liquids contain a mix of additives, including propylene glycol and glycerol. When heated, those chemicals can form carcinogenic compounds. Then there's the nicotine itself. Especially worrisome: growing evidence that vaping among teens leads to smoking cigarettes.
America has made massive strides in turning the tide against smoking among teens. In the late 1990s, a quarter of high school seniors smoked, according to University of Michigan researchers. Today, that number's been whittled to 5 percent.
The disturbing paradox: Among grown-ups, vaping is a means to break away from cigarettes. Among teens, vaping's becoming a gateway to tobacco smoking.
We shouldn't be surprised. Today's vaping by the 3-D printer is yesterday's smoking in the bathroom. But it's a problem that could steamroll into a full-blown health crisis if parents, schools and public health officials don't intervene. Vaping may prove to have, or not have, long-term health consequences. But we do know about nicotine and the harm it can do.
Editorial on 04/11/2018