2
E = M J
Seventeen per cent of high school seniors used E-cigarettes in 2014. E-cigarette use in non–smoking adolescents increased from 79,000 in 2011 to 263,000 in 2013. The current models of E-cigarettes were developed in China in 2003 and introduced to the U.S. in 2007, though Philip Morris had been researching them since the 1990’s. (1)
The original E-cigarettes looked like a cigarette and contained a battery-powered heating element that vaporized liquid containing liquid nicotine which could be inhaled. The amount of nicotine in a single E-cigarette could vary from 36 mg. (about the amount in one Lucky Strike cigarette) to zero. Zero? Yes, zero. People vape those E-cigarettes for their various flavors which are multiple and diverse. “Vape” is the new verb to describe the process. Multiple YouTube videos compare the pros and cons of Smoking vs. “Vaping”. The major pro of vaping according to its advocates is that you can get the nicotine without the tars and other carcinogens.
The newer generation of E-cigarettes don’t look like cigarettes. They can be pen sized (called “pens”) or bigger (called “tanks”), up to 10 -12 inches long. Pens and tanks are rechargeable by the user. Multiple websites offer all kinds of flavors and nicotine strengths of E-liquids.
As E-cigarette use has increased, the use of combustible cigarettes (the traditional ones you light with a match) have decreased among children in grades 8 through 12. Some think this is good news. Others point out that even if E-cigarettes have 10x-100x LESS carcinogens than combustible cigarettes, there are still carcinogens present. Established researchers remark that “not all the ingredients in E-cigarette fluids are known or listed”. Manufactures of E-liquids rebut that by insisting that there are only four ingredients – propylene glycol, glycerin, flavoring, and nicotine – all used in other FDA-approved sprays and vaporized medicines.
E-cigarettes are not regulated by the FDA. The practical consequences of this are that 1) “face-to-face” purchase is not required (as with combustible cigarettes) and 2) there are no restrictions on youth-targeted advertisements. One of the biggest E-cigarette brands, “Blu”, may be best known for its Sports Illustrated swim suit issue ad zooming in on a blue bikinied bottom. “Seduce Juice” is the registered trademark of a variety of E-liquids, all with “snake oil” as a secondary label. Despite the fact that 40 states prohibit the sale of E-cigarettes to minors, they are readily available on the internet.
Do E-cigarettes help cigarette smokers stop smoking? One study of 5,000 attempted quitters in the U.K. suggested that it did help. (2) Studies in U.S. suggest that the use of FDA-approved nicotine vaporizers (Nicorette Quick Mist) prescribed by a physician can help people quit smoking, and many E-cigarette critics recommend that as the preferred method. Another study showed that E-cigarettes were used by “intermediate risk” students in high schools unlike the use of combustible cigarettes by “high risk” students. Because of that use of E-cigarettes has been called a “harm reduction” strategy. Others citing the same study results suggest that E-cigarettes could act as a gateway to real cigarettes. Neither the American Heart Association nor the American Cancer Society have endorsed E-cigarettes as an aid to stop smoking.
Of course, it didn’t take long for adolescents to learn that if you could buy a rechargeable hand vaporizer and a variety of flavored liquids to put into it, why not put some marijuana juice in it.? And they do. The hashish oil used to charge pens and tanks is highly concentrated liquid THC, the active chemical of marijuana. NPR called pot-vape pens the “crack cocaine of marijuana” a year ago. Unlike alcohol where a “shot is a shot, 30 ml., 1 oz.” the world over, a single puff from hashish oil is much stronger than a puff from a joint, and the user may not be able to reliably predict its effect. But, there is plenty of advice on how to do so on the internet. The weedblog. com has a colorful infographic explaining “How to Vape MJ rather than Smoke It.”
The contemporary pediatrician has had to add to his or her litany of history questions poised to adolescents over recent years: “Do you smoke cigarettes?”; “Are you attracted to boys or girls?”; “Do you have a gun in the house?”; and now “Are you vaping anything?” (3)
E use could = marijuana squared!
References:
(1) JAMA Pediatrics 2015 ; 169(2): 177-82
(2) Addiction 2014; 109 (9): 1531-40
(3) Scott E. Hadland, MD MPH, Harvard Medical School, May 6, 2015 Course in Adolescent Medcine
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