Dear Editor,
As a Former North Canton Board of Education Member, I am increasingly alarmed by the growing vaping epidemic among high schoolers and middle schoolers in our community. The rise in youth vaping, especially through flavored disposable products, demands urgent attention.
Between 2019 and 2022, the CDC’s National Youth Tobacco Survey showed a staggering 2188% increase in youth usage of disposable vaping products. In 2022 alone, over 2.5 million kids, including 14.1% of high school students and 3.3% of middle school students, used e-cigarettes. The 2023 data is even worse for middle schoolers as 4.6% of all middle school students are reporting e-cigarette use.
Disposable vapes are specifically designed to hook children with their colorful packaging and enticing flavors like pink lemonade and gummy bear. It is those products, much more than traditional cigarettes, we are seeing in our schools. Some manufactures are even making vapes that resemble USB drives, highlighters and other school supplies to make them harder to detect and easier to use at school. Moreover, these products are stronger, larger and cheaper so more kids can use them and, when they do, they are unaware that a single disposable vape contains more nicotine than a carton of cigarettes. The misconception that vaping is risk free is prevalent despite the proven harm vaping causes to the student’s heart, lungs, brain, and academic performance.
Schools are doing their best to educate students about the dangers of vaping. However, we need the FDA’s support.
The FDA has authorized only 23 specific e-cigarette products, all targeted at adults, all tobacco flavored. However, kids can still easily find thousands of flavored vapes online and in stores, the vast majority of which are manufactured in China. FDA must take decisive action to remove these illegal, flavored vapes from shelves and utilize all available tools to protect our children. We encourage you to join us in pressing the FDA to fulfill its responsibility and safeguard our students from the detrimental effects of nicotine addiction.
Sincerely,
Jordan Greenwald Former North Canton Board of Education Member
