June 2019 - Parks & Recreation - 49

ity to respond to the youth e-cigarette epidemic we're seeing now. "
Despite the Lung Association's
admonishment of the federal govovernment, Carr says " The Real
eal
on
Cost " Youth E-cigarette Prevention
pot
campaign is " the one bright spot
for the FDA. " This newly launched
hed
he
d
marketing campaign includes a
partnership between the FDA
and school districts nationwide to
spread the word about the harmful
ng
effects of e-cigarettes to teens using
various marketing tools, including
ng
posters. Some movement also has
as
n
been occurring in Congress. On
ty
May 20, 2019, Senate Majority
y.))
Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.)
introduced a bipartisan bill cowritten with Sen. Tim Kaine (DVa.), raising the national legal age
to buy tobacco products to 21.

Vaping Fast Facts
Th number of U.S. high school students
The
w
who reported being current e-cigarette
users increased 78.0 percent between
u
2017 and 2018 to 3.05 million (or 20.8
20
percent).
p
Source: " 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey, "
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Nu
Numbers
among middle school
stu
students rose 48.0 percent to
57
570,000
(or 4.9 percent).
SSource:
ou
" 2018 National Youth Tobacco
Survey, " FDA and CDC
Sur

Four out of five kids who have
used tobacco started with a
flavored product.
Source: American Journal of
Preventative Medicine

Spreading the Word
When tackling the youth vaping
n
epidemic head on, most park agencies recognize the complexities of
lthis important issue and acknowlhe
edge they can't do it alone - the
same could be said for public
ic
ss
health departments in cities across
th
the country. Kelsey Fife, health
promotions specialist at Mesa
County Public Health in Colorado,
knows this all too well, especially
when examining the numbers.
According to a survey conducted on high school-aged youth in
Mesa County, about 50 percent of
high school youth admit they've
tried vaping and approximately 30
percent said they've used an e-cigarette or other electronic vaping
product in the past 30 days. " That'ss
a lot higher than what we see with
h
e,
other tobacco products, " says Fife,
nd
" and the second-most tried and
ter
used substance of all of them after
nly
alcohol. " Even more startling, only
45 percent of those Mesa County
nty

Yo
Youth
report vaping as early
as 12 years old.
Source: NBC News
Sou

Among middle school and high school students
who reported ever using e-cigarettes in 2016, the
most commonly selected reasons for use were:

1
2
3

use by " friend or family member "
(39.0 percent);
availability off " flavors such as mint, candy,
fruit or chocolate " (31.0 percent); and

the belief
the
be
that " they
" tthe
hey
y are
a e less
ar
le
ess harmful
har
armf
mful
ul than
tha
han
n
othe
ot
herr fo
orm
rmss of tobacco,
tob
obac
acco
co, su
such
ch a
ciga
gare
rett
ttes
es ""
other
forms
ass ci
cigarettes "
(17.1
(17.
(1
7.1 percent).
perc
pe
rcen
e t).
Soourrce: " Reasons
Source:
" R
Rea
eassons
ns for
for E
Electronic
lect
le
ctro
roni
nicc Cigarette
Cigarett
Ci
tte
e Use
Use Among
Amon
Am
ongg Middle
Midd
Mi
ddle
le
National
and
an
d Hi
High
gh School
Sch
choo
ooll Students "
Stud
St
uden
ents
ts "" - Na
N
tion
onal
al YYouth
outh
ou
th TTobacco
obac
ob
acco
co SSurvey,
urve
ur
vey,
y,
United
Unit
Un
ited
ed SStates,
tate
ta
tes,
s, 2016
201
016
6

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June 2019 - Parks & Recreation

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