Vaping needs more federal attention as a serious health risk
The U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy has recognized the value of both a landmark 1964 report by one of his predecessors about smoking, and the need to more closely study a corresponding 21st century concern about vaping, particularly among youth.
Despite that, vaping is not listed as a “priority” issue by the surgeon general.
That should change. The nation needs better information about the real risks of vaping and about the trends surrounding the use of e-cigarettes.
Florida is fortunate; despite the seeming ubiquity of vape shops, vaping has never been as popular here as it has nationwide. A story by the USA Today Florida network published this week included figures from a study by Forbes magazine. It showed Florida close to the bottom of the list (45th, to be exact) for percentage of adults who regularly or occasionally vape.
Florida’s numbers among youth are also promising. IA few years ago, Florida leaders noped out of a national data-gathering effort known as the Youth Risk Behavior Survey, which asks children about a wide range of dangerous behavior including vaping — but to his credit, state Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo joined forces with Tobacco Free Florida to replicate some of that data-gathering. According to that study, vaping declined sharply among users age 11-17, from 28% in 2019 to 16.6% in 2023 for teens who have ever used vapor tobacco devices, and from 16.6% to 9% who regularly vape.
If those figures were fudged, we’re pretty sure Tobacco Free Florida — a notoriously feisty group — would have called Ladapo out.
The nation still has an urgent need to know more about the dangers of vaping is urgently needed, Lawrence Gostin, a public health law expert at Georgetown University, told The Associated Press. He said there have been many confusing messages about vaping and that a U.S. surgeon general’s report “could clear that all up.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and most scientists agree that, based on available evidence, electronic cigarettes are far less dangerous than traditional cigarettes. Despite that, many U.S. adults believe nicotine vaping is as harmful as — or more dangerous than — cigarette smoking.
We’re loathe to discourage that line of thinking, because “less dangerous” doesn’t mean e-cigarettes are harmless. The true risks could be among the issues a comprehensive report could clarify.
A report could also study one of the vexing issues about the subject: What is the value of vaping in helping cigarette smokers kick the habit?
Even in this era of misinformation, the effectiveness on the masses of credible warnings can’t be overstated. A public information campaign, in fact, seems to have already had a positive effect on reducing vaping.
Vaping’s popularity exploded in the 2010s and, by 2014, e-cigarettes surpassed combustible cigarettes as the tobacco product that youth used the most. By 2019, 28% of high schoolers were vaping.
A 2019 outbreak of hospitalizations and deaths among those vaping with THC, the chemical that gives marijuana its high, was traced to a thickening agent used in black market vape cartridges, a substance not used in commercial nicotine e-cigarettes.
U.S. health officials sounded alarms and celebrities and ex-vapers poured into schools, including in NEPA, to warn students
Their efforts, it seems, were effective. Vaping by youths has recently been falling, according to AP: Last year, 10% of high school students surveyed said they had used e-cigarettes in the previous month, down from 14% the year before.
The scare from the black market products may have contributed to a decline in vaping and made more people think vaping is dangerous
The 1964 report from Surgeon General Luther Terry proved the overall dangers of nicotine. It has resulted in a decline in the smoking rate among adults from 42% that year to 11% in 2022. And regardless of vaping’s assistance in kicking the cigarette habit, the bottom line is that nicotine in any form is unsafe, especially for young people.
We owe it to them to provide the same level of scrutiny and documentation that can transform the health of theirs and generations to come.
A surgeon general’s study of vaping must be a priority.
A version of this editorial appeared in the Scranton Times-Tribune. The Sentinel often adapts editorials that reflect our overall point of view. The Orlando Sentinel Editorial Board consists of Opinion Editor Krys Fluker, Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson and Viewpoints Editor Jay Reddick. Contact us at insight@orlandosentinel.com