Officials revamp vaping strategy
Schools, nonprofit heighten efforts to stop teens from taking up habit
To combat the growing population of teenagers who are vaping or “Juuling,” the Howard County Health Department is stepping up its education efforts, mirroring what was done with curbing youth smoking years ago.
The county school system and the nonprofit HC DrugFree are ramping up efforts to educate teenagers about the risks and dangers of vaping. The school system says it is actively looking to revamp how substance abuse issues are addressed with students.
“The good news is we have been over the past few decades successful in educating our youth about cigarette use so I think we can be equally successful in educating them about e-cigarettes,” said Dr. Maura Rossman, Howard County health officer.
“We are very concerned about the increase of our Howard County youth who are experimenting with juuling and vaping because research is now showing young people who try or experiment with vaping are more likely to become long-term smokers of nicotine products like cigarettes later on.”
In 2018, more than 3.6 million middle and high school students nationwide were reported using e-cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nearly 21 percent of high school students and nearly 5 percent of middle schoolers reported using an e-cigarette in a 30-day period in 2018, the CDC found.
Five years ago, 16 percent of Howard County youth were using an electronic smoking device, as reported by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The 2014 percentage is the most recent number the Howard health department has regarding youths and vaping.
To teenagers, vaping is “cool, it’s sexy,” and they view it as a way to become popular, said Joan Webb Scornaienchi, executive director of HC DrugFree.
“It’s so popular that now it’s own verb; you are juulling because of the product JUUL,” a vaporizer brand, Scornaienchi said.
A JUUL is a palm-sized vaporizer that is similar in appearance to a USB drive.
Smokers inhale the vaporizer, which heats up liquid inside of a fruity nicotine pod, turning it into an aerosol. Pod flavors include cucumber, mango, classic tobacco, Virginia tobacco and mint.
There is no Food and Drug Administration oversight over electronic smoking products, meaning “it could be like smoking a whole pack of cigarettes in 10 minutes,” Rossman said. “People might not know what they are inhaling and I’m not really sure if people know they are inhaling nicotine, which is addictive.”
She said, “We know that the teen brain is more susceptible to addiction, so if you’re using an addictive drug or See VAPING, page 4
The county school system and the nonprofit HC DrugFree are ramping up efforts to educate teenagers about the risks and dangers of vaping. The school system says it is actively looking to revamp how substance abuse issues are addressed with students.
“The good news is we have been over the past few decades successful in educating our youth about cigarette use so I think we can be equally successful in educating them about e-cigarettes,” said Dr. Maura Rossman, Howard County health officer.
“We are very concerned about the increase of our Howard County youth who are experimenting with juuling and vaping because research is now showing young people who try or experiment with vaping are more likely to become long-term smokers of nicotine products like cigarettes later on.”
In 2018, more than 3.6 million middle and high school students nationwide were reported using e-cigarettes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Nearly 21 percent of high school students and nearly 5 percent of middle schoolers reported using an e-cigarette in a 30-day period in 2018, the CDC found.
Five years ago, 16 percent of Howard County youth were using an electronic smoking device, as reported by the Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. The 2014 percentage is the most recent number the Howard health department has regarding youths and vaping.
To teenagers, vaping is “cool, it’s sexy,” and they view it as a way to become popular, said Joan Webb Scornaienchi, executive director of HC DrugFree.
“It’s so popular that now it’s own verb; you are juulling because of the product JUUL,” a vaporizer brand, Scornaienchi said.
A JUUL is a palm-sized vaporizer that is similar in appearance to a USB drive.
Smokers inhale the vaporizer, which heats up liquid inside of a fruity nicotine pod, turning it into an aerosol. Pod flavors include cucumber, mango, classic tobacco, Virginia tobacco and mint.
There is no Food and Drug Administration oversight over electronic smoking products, meaning “it could be like smoking a whole pack of cigarettes in 10 minutes,” Rossman said. “People might not know what they are inhaling and I’m not really sure if people know they are inhaling nicotine, which is addictive.”
She said, “We know that the teen brain is more susceptible to addiction, so if you’re using an addictive drug or See VAPING, page 4
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