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While many Hawaiian teenagers smoke e-cigarettes as a way to deal with stress, the effects of nicotine can actually exacerbate mental health problems and negatively affect brain development.
This is the message shared by the State Department of Health through a new campaign. “Explanation of the nicotine brain” To combat decades of deceptive marketing that has created the false impression that tobacco is a stress reliever.
Part of the “Escape the Vape Hawaii” series, the campaign launched ahead of Thursday’s Great American Smokeout sponsored by the American Cancer Society.
Lola Irvin, Director of DOH’s Division of Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, said: “If teenagers already have depression or other mental health problems, e-cigarettes may exacerbate these conditions.”
In a study evaluating e-cigarettes with youth in Hawaii, Irvin found that only one-third of those who hadn’t started considered it highly harmful, and less than a quarter of those who had already tried it. I think that it is
One misconception is that most vape products sold in the United States contain little or no nicotine, when in fact they do contain highly addictive nicotine.
Additionally, a report on e-cigarette products released by the Federal Trade Commission in March found that nicotine levels in single-use e-cigarettes increased by nearly 60% between 2015 and 2018. In 2015, single-use products contained an average of 25 milligrams of nicotine. In 2018, it increased to 39.5, making it even more addictive.
Cartridge-based e-cigarettes, popular among youth, had even higher nicotine concentrations of 50 and 60 milligrams per milliliter.
“Many Hawaiian teens do not understand the amount of nicotine they may be smoking and how e-cigarettes are harming their health and overall well-being. “Vape product use can complicate pre-existing mental health problems, and the vicious cycle of nicotine withdrawal symptoms includes anxiety, depression, and difficulty concentrating. These include problems, sleep disturbances, and mood disorders.
“Building on the success of previous e-cigarette prevention campaigns, we want to focus on educating teens and their ohana about the serious mental health risks of e-cigarettes.”
Because nicotine stimulates receptors in the brain, triggers the production of cortisol, and affects how the body responds to stress, e-cigarettes may actually increase feelings of stress over time. This leads to an addictive loop that requires more nicotine to cope with more stress.
Nicotine also upsets the natural balance of neurotransmitters such as dopamine and serotonin in the brain, making vapers unhappy. There is a nature.
“It’s really going to be this snowball effect,” says Irvin. “It can actually rewire the brain for addiction, throwing dopamine and serotonin out of balance, making you feel even more stressed and depressed.”
Hawaii has the highest rate of youth e-cigarette use nationally, with about one in three high school students and one in five middle schoolers reportedly currently using e-cigarettes.
Most people said they started using tobacco with flavored products, including fruit, mint, or candy flavors that appealed to young people, telling Hawaii legislators introduce a bill Prohibit the sale of flavored tobacco products.
Bills have been introduced over the years, but have failed to pass a statewide ban.
The latest 2019 U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Youth Risk Behavior Survey found that daily e-cigarette use was more than 2 times Over 2 years. The results of the survey from 2021 are expected to be available later this year.
According to DOH, the latest campaign was developed with feedback from Hawaiian teens to find out what resonated most. It is aimed specifically at reaching and educating middle and high school students, especially young people from her 13 to her 18 years.
According to Irvin, most young people start using cigarettes in middle school by the age of 14.
The campaign will take a multi-channel approach, featuring ads on TikTok, YouTube and other teen-influenced social media channels that encourage Hawaiian youth to live vape-free, countering imagery promoting e-cigarettes To do.
of Escape Zabapehi.com The website offers an interactive presentation of the facts about what vapes contain and how they can harm human health. Many people think e-cigarettes contain only water vapor, but they contain dangerous chemicals such as formaldehyde and metal particles.
In addition to airway inflammation, e-cigarettes increase the risk of chronic bacterial lung disease and lung infections such as pneumonia. A study from Stanford University also linked a young adult’s e-cigarette use to a much higher risk of contracting COVID-19 than her age group who did not use e-cigarettes.
Meanwhile, the industry more than tripled its spending on e-cigarette advertising and promotion from 2015 to 2018, spending more than $640 million in 2018, according to the FTC e-cigarette report. rice field.
Companies have spent millions of dollars on television advertising and offering discounts to retailers and wholesalers to bring down the price of e-cigarette products to consumers. We also hired celebrities, social media influencers, and brand ambassadors to endorse our e-cigarette products.
According to the FTC, sales of e-cigarettes have increased more than six-fold to $2 billion over the past three years, and sales of flavored e-cigarette cartridges have increased seven-fold.
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Want to quit smoking or e-cigarettes?
Hawaii Tobacco Quitline continues to offer “My Life, My Quit,” a free program with coaches trained to help youth through age 17 quit smoking and e-cigarettes. Sign up by sending a text message that says Start My Quit.
visit MyLifeMyQuit.com for more information.
