By: Teo De La Rosa
I believe that one of the greatest issues in society is the frequency of vaping among teens. I believe that teen vaping is such a issue because of all the confusion about the topic. For example have you ever been walking by a school or playground and you see kids your age or younger smoking, buying, or selling vapes to or with other kids? if this is the case I believe that we must take action now and take initiative to show these people what they are really consuming. if you still believe that e-cigarettes' are not bad for you or you believe that they should continue to be sold around the country then I urge you to continue reading so I have can have the chance to leave you with something to think about the next time you see those kids at school or at the park smoking vapes.
One reason that laws about vapes should be more strict than what they are is that According to the website NIH or News in Health "More than 44,000 students took part in the 2018 annual survey of drug, alcohol, and cigarette use in 8th, 10th, and 12th graders. About 37% of 12th graders reported vaping in 2018, compared with 28% in 2017. Vaping of each substance that was asked about increased. This includes nicotine, flavored liquids, marijuana, and hash oil." Even though that these numbers are surprising some thing that is even more diminishing to hear is that all of these purchases are being bought illegally which is why the regulations should be tightened so kids cannot purchase these items
Another piece of evidence from NIH or News in Health is that they claim "Vaping may pose serious and avoidable health risks. Exposure to nicotine during youth can lead to addiction and cause long-term harm to brain development. The vapor can also contain toxins (including ones that cause cancer) and tiny particles that are harmful when breathed in." this shows that even though all the confusion and misinformation about vaping this paragraph shows that vaping does affect peoples overall health.
Another valid piece of evidence is that The CDC claims that "On January 2, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized an enforcement policy that prohibits the sale of prefilled cartridge e-cigarettes in any flavor other than tobacco or menthol, unless authorized by FDA. FDA has since taken additional steps to prohibit certain companies from selling youth-appealing, flavored disposable e-cigarettes and flavored e-liquids without authorization." this is still relevant to the idea that vaping is harmful to teens because as the image shows all of the chemicals in the flavoring of electronic cigarettes' can provoke for several types of cancer, lung disease, and metals that go into your lungs.
My final piece of information is about why vapes should not be as accessible to teen is that the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) states "In a study of youth aged 15 to 17 years, 31 percent said they obtained their main vaping device from a store, vape shop, or online retailer; while 16 percent bought from another person, 15 percent gave money to another person to buy for them, and 14 percent received it as a gift from a friend or family member." this is still relevant to my claim because the graph shows that there are so many other ways that e-cigarettes' get to young teens which is why I believe that vapes should be banned or there should have extremely strict laws about the way these teens are bought.
In conclusion I believe that all teens and adults should know all of the affects, down sides, and problems with vapes and e-cigarettes'. I hope that after reading my blog you leave with a new understanding and/ or perspective about vapes and that the next time you see those kids at the park smoking e-cigarettes that you help them or that you share the information that I just shared with you to other people that might need it.
NARATIVE
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SOURCES
7) https://www.childrenscolorado.org/conditions-and-advice/parenting/parenting-articles/teen-vaping/