LETTER: Vaping is threatening our kids’ lives; raise nicotine age to 21

To Ozaukee Press:

Kids are sneaking hits from it in school bathrooms. Students younger than eighth grade are trying it. Kids are selling their belongings to buy it. Wisconsin is the epicenter of the e-cigarette epidemic.

We are at a critical time in the fight against tobacco products. After years
of declining rates of teenagers smoking cigarettes, we are witnessing an alarming increase in the use of the next generation of nicotine products—e-cigarettes. These are battery-powered devices that heat a
nicotine-containing liquid to produce an aerosol that you inhale.

In Wisconsin, teen e-cigarette use has skyrocketed. In 2012, it was just 1.9%. In 2018, it’s up to 20% or one in every five high school students. Vaping is taking off, in part because teens can smoke candy or fruit-flavored nicotine pods in e-cigarettes.

But the term “vaping” is a misnomer, since it leads you to believe that you are only inhaling water vapor, when you are inhaling something much more sinister. The rise of a new lung disease among young e-cigarette users is particularly alarming. E-cigarettes not only contain highly addictive nicotine, but can also include toxic chemicals that can cause cancer and lung disease.

Our brains are still developing when we’re in high school. Nicotine has a negative effect on brain development and a single e-cigarette pod contains as much nicotine as 20 tobacco cigarettes.

There are ways we can stop the vaping epidemic. Right now, there is a bill in the Wisconsin Legislature that will raise the minimum sale age of all tobacco products from 18 to 21 years old. The bill is popularly known as Tobacco 21.

Eighteen states and at least 480 municipalities have passed Tobacco 21, which has been proven effective in lowering youth tobacco rates. This legislation not only applies to e-cigarettes, but also regular
cigarettes, chewing tobacco, cigarillos and other tobacco products.

Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the country, taking more than 7,900 Wisconsin lives a year.

The public can help stop this epidemic. By joining us in supporting a strong Tobacco 21 policy in Wisconsin. Visit YoureTheCure.org/WIRaiseTheAge to sign up.
 

Anoop K. Singh
Director of cardiac electrophysiology
Children’s Hospital of Wisconsin
Milwaukee

J. Carter Ralphe
Chief of pediatric cardiology
American Family Children’s Hospital
Madison