How to Talk to Your Teen About Vaping

It's a new generation, and there's another way to hook kids on nicotine. In a few short years, e-cigarettes and other vaping devices have shot up in popularity. They're the latest method to deliver nicotine ­along with mixtures of chemicals that users suck into their lungs.

For kids, vaping may seem like a fun, harmless, social experience. But for parents, vaping is both an X-factor and an all-too-familiar echo of the past. Toxins masked with sweet candy flavors and marketed as cool social props feels similar to the way tobacco cigarettes were sold for decades.

Below, two doctors (parents themselves) who've blogged about teens and vaping suggest how to open a conversation with your kids.

Old Tactics/New Devices

For a look at how the cigarette industry targeted young people, browse the Truth Tobacco Industry Documents, a now-public collection of studies, reports and memos created by tobacco companies. Documents include insider information on tactics for attracting new, youthful customers. (Remember candy-flavored cigarettes and Joe Camel?)

Today, vaping products are available in fruit, candy and dessert flavors. By clicking an online button assuring they're over 18, kids can order strawberry, peach, blueberry and coconut blends; doughnut and "Belgian waffle" flavors; and chocolate, cherry and cotton candy choices among countless others.

Dr. Pia Fenimore, a pediatrician with Lancaster Pediatric Associates in Pennsylvania, first heard of vaping from a teen patient with whom she'd previously worked to help quit smoking. "She was the one that said to me, 'It's not tobacco. It's safe, and it's a way for me to not miss my cigarettes. And it even smells good,'" Fenimore says. "She showed it to me, and it smelled just like a lollipop. And I thought, 'Oh, no.'"

An in-depth article by Janet Raloff, published June 30 in ScienceNews, digs into the dangers e-cigarettes hold for teens. Developing young brains may be more vulnerable to nicotine's effects. It is possible to vape without nicotine; non-nicotine products are available. But that doesn't mean all the risk is removed. Chemicals may damage lung tissue and disrupt the barrier function of the lungs.

Vaping has alternate uses. In a confidential survey of Connecticut high school students who use e-cigarettes, 18 percent reported vaping marijuana at some point.

Talking With Teens

"There's a lot of good news about cigarette smoking dropping off­­ – kids have definitely gotten the message that smoking is bad," says Dr. Laura Offutt, founder of the teen health website Real Talk With Dr. Offutt. Unfortunately, she says, kids are now getting a marketing message that vaping is an acceptable replacement.

It's harder to detect if kids are using e-cigarettes than traditional smoking, Offutt says. "They won't have smoke on their breath," she says. "But they might have bloodshot eyes. Or they may show signs of nicotine withdrawal," she adds, like the irritability adult cigarette smokers can experience. She's posted sample pictures of vaping devices on her website. "So if parents see anything that looks like that and they're not sure what it is, that could be a clue," she says. 

When talking to your teens about vaping, play it casual, Offutt recommends. "It's not really a judgmental way to ask the question," she says. "It's more just, 'I've read this, and I'm curious what you've heard about it.' Or, 'Do you know any kids that are using e-cigarettes?' or 'What do your classmates think about e-cigarettes?' It's a nice way to open that conversation."

Keep it open-ended, Fenimore agrees: "You don't want to ask a yes-no question. Because teenagers will look for any chance to answer a question with a yes or no. Then you're really nowhere."

Today's teens are more health-savvy, Fenimore says. "When you tell them nicotine can lead to high blood pressure, fatigue and sudden mood changes, and that it can lead to a lifelong, expensive and health-harming addiction, those [are] things they want to avoid for themselves."

Stress the seriousness of vaping, Fenimore says, as a decision to not just make on a whim, but one with potential consequences of lifelong problems. "It's not like drinking a slushy or some other thing you like just because of the flavor," she says. "This is really a serious drug."

Finally, be the message. If you don't want your kids to vape, don't vape, either. "Children of people that use products like vaping and nicotine products are more likely to use them," Fenimore says. "They are less likely to listen to people like me and their teachers if their parents are sending – whether they mean to or not – that subliminal message of, 'Oh well, it's actually OK.'"

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