WASHINGTON 鈥� Next to the scribbled numbers and scratched initials, high school students across the country can expect a different message on bathroom stalls: one from the government.
In its new , the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is targeting teens to stop what experts call an 鈥渁lmost ubiquitous鈥� and 鈥済rowing epidemic鈥� of e-cigarette use among youth. In 2017, the National Youth Tobacco Survey reported more than聽 middle and high school students used e-cigarettes.
鈥淛ust in 2016, alone, more than 42 percent of high school-aged kids around the country had tried an e-cigarette,鈥� said Mitch Zeller, director of the FDA鈥檚 Center for Tobacco Products.
鈥淎nd this is not a cost-free proposition.鈥�
Despite the common presumption that e-cigarettes are safe, Zeller said the flavored nicotine-laced liquid that鈥檚 vaporized can impact brain development by rewiring it to crave more of the highly addictive substance. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention a single pod of e-cigarette liquid for JUUL, a popular vaping device among teens for its USB-like shape, contains as much nicotine as a pack of 20 regular cigarettes.
鈥淎nd our brains don鈥檛 develop fully until we鈥檙e in our early to mid-20s,鈥� Zeller said.
The FDA鈥檚 campaign, which includes targeted digital ads in addition to posters placed in more than 10,000 U.S. high schools, will also hit on the harmful chemicals found in e-cigarette vapor, such as formaldehyde and metal particles. A recent study in the journal found several carcinogenic compounds generated by e-cigarettes.
Zeller said another danger of e-cigarettes is their gateway effect.
鈥淭he studies show that a kid who experiments with an e-cigarette turns out to be more likely to try a regular cigarette,鈥� he said. 鈥淭his jeopardizes all of the progress we鈥檝e made in reducing kids鈥� use of tobacco products.鈥�
The new campaign comes around the same time the agency issued more than to retailers who illegally sold JUUL and other e-cigarette products to minors, and launched an into whether more than 40 e-cigarette products are illegally marketed 鈥渙utside of the agency鈥檚 compliance policy.鈥�
Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable disease and death in the U.S., according to the CDC. And nearly all of tobacco use begins during youth and young adulthood.
鈥�(We need kids to understand) that this is not a cost-free proposition; that the nicotine in e-cigarettes can rewire their brains; that other compounds in that aerosol can include formaldehyde and metal particles, so that kids are not walking around thinking, 鈥榃ell, I鈥檓 not smoking cigarettes, so it鈥檚 OK to use an e-cigarette,鈥欌�� Zeller said.
