NJ Quitline- 1(866)657-8677
www.njquitline.org
Truth Initiative - Text QUIT to (202)804-9884
To quit vaping
Smokefree Teen - Text QUIT to 47848
To quit smoking
Apps to Download: quitStart & QuitGuide

Do you know what happens when you inhale nicotine from a cigarette/e-cigarette?
1. Nicotine is inhaled and drawn into the lungs
2. Rapid delivery of nicotine to the brain
3. High nicotine levels create "buzz" 
4. Nicotine levels drop, creating cravings
5. Cravings cause nicotine addiction 

Nicotine enters the lungs and in less than 1 seconds nit hits the brain, releasing a 'feel good' hormone called Dopamine. Dopamine is a normal chemical message that is released anytime we eat, drink or exercise. That's how we know we need food and water to survive without anyone having to teach us.
Anyway! Nicotine like other drugs act as a stimulant. It tricks your brain into thinking it needs this substance to survive (like food and water!) So, when the brain releases dopamine that is what gives off the "buzz" you may feel. Unfortunately, after a few hours when your nicotine levels begin to drop you will start to experience cravings and withdraw symptoms that may include dizziness, headaches, trouble concentrating, irritability, fatigue, nausea, and trouble sleeping. Some people associate these symptoms as stress, but in all reality, its actually the withdrawal symptoms kicking in and the person is going to want their next hit of nicotine. 
One of the side effects of inhaling nicotine is a rapid and increased heart rate and blood pressure, so if you truly are relaxed like the nicotine is tricking your brain into thinking, then should you really have an increased heart rate and high blood pressure? Definitely not! 

Juul is one of the most popular e-cigarette brands on the market right now. One of the reasons why Juul is so popular is because it is owned by Altria which is a part of Big Tobacco! Remember, the Big Tobacco companies that are targeting our youth through marketing!!! (see our last post!!) The tobacco giant has invested $12.8 billion for a 35% stake in Juul.

1 Juul pod contains 0.7% ml with 5% nicotine by weight. that is approximately the equivalent to about 1 pack of cigarettes (that's 20 individual cigarettes!!)

Juul pods are unique because of their patent nicotine salt form. To create their nicotine salt they take a freebase nicotine and add an acid to lower the pH, which creates a higher concentration of nicotine to be delivered in smaller doses compared t other e-cigarette brands. JUUL states hat their nicotine salt formulation increases the rate and amount of nicotine delivered in to the blood, compared to other formulas. 

JUUL packaging also states that their products can cause cancer, birth defects, and other reproductive harm. Notice how these are the same warnings that are on cigarette labels? ITS NOT A COINCIDENCE!!

Research done by the Truth Initiative shows, JUUL Users is that 63% of them (hello, that's more than half!) don't know the products ALWAYS contains nicotine. The users form this research were ages 15-24 years old. This proves that consumers have no clue what they are even consuming and the risks associated with vaping. 

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Although E-cigarettes are are taking the tobacco world by storm and replacing the use of the original cigarette, if you are purchasing E-cig's your money is still going to the same place! 

The tobacco companies, we call Big Tobacco realized that people were gravitating more towards E-cig's, so they either bought out or own shares in the electronic cigarette companies!! They are hiding behind bands such as blu, vuse, logic and Juul. The tobacco company Altria (who owns Marlboro) controls 35% of one of the most popular E-cigarette companies, Juul investing more than $12 BILLION in the company. These companies are behind all the advertisements and marketing that are making these products out to be socially acceptable and safe alternatives to cigarettes. 

The marketing tactics used for these products are targeting youth to get hooked on nicotine early and become lifetime users. This will ensure that Big Tobacco will never stop making money. As a teen or youth, you are an easy target. Don't be taken advantage of my these billion dollar companies preying on your developing brain.

Check in next week to learn all about Juul.

It is extremely concerning that electronic cigarettes are targeting our youth through lack of regulations, marketing and advertising.

So, what do I mean by "lack of regulations"? Because there is not a lot of laws and regulations on the selling of e-cigarettes, they are being sold to minors, making false claims on there packaging and participating in marketing and advertising these products. 

Tobacco advertising was banned in the 1970's however, this does not pertain to e-cigarettes! Due to the lack of regulation on these products, e-cigarettes can be marketed to anyone from television to social media. With the exponential growth of social media and its young users, this industry now has even more outlets to market to our youth then ever before. In 2014, tobacco companies spent $115 million on e-cigarettes which aided in millions of teens to try vaping.

The advertisements that are being used for vape products resemble all too familiar with the old tobacco cigarette ads that caused millions of people to start smoking original cigarettes (which we later found to cause heart disease, cancers, high cholesterol, etc.) The tobacco companies are using these advertisements because they know they worked in the past! Former celebrities were used to sponsor cigarettes and we are now seeing todays celebrities and figures youth look up to on electronic cigarette ads. These ads are also targeting the youth by creating images that their customers are going to become more attractive, thinner, or prettier, etc. You are seeing advertisements at sporting events, concerts, music festivals and more. Giveaways are being handed out with branding for youth to use and produce free advertisement. 

Other examples of targeted advertisements is how they are trying to normalize the product and making it look like an everyday item (such as a flash drive or a pen), comparing the product to candy and cocktails, even making false claims to trick you into thinking the product is healthy.

All this information and much more are proof that these targeted advertisements are working!
More youth are starting their nicotine addiction using E-cigarettes than traditional cigarettes. 
That means, if e-cigarettes never existed, there is such a high possibility that those teens would have never touched a traditional cigarette and would have no dependence to nicotine whatsoever. Shame on Big Tobacco. Shame. 

Visit us again on Wednesday to learn more about Big Tobacco and how they are connected to these advertisements and e-cigarettes. 



Resources
"E-cigarette Ads and Youth" Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 05 Jan. 2016. Web. 2 Feb. 2017. <https://www.cdc.gov/vitalsigns/wcigarette-ads/>

Before reading on, ask yourself this...Why do you think teens and young adults are vaping?

If you can't think of any reasons, do you think flavors could be a factor? What about outside influences from friends and family members? Maybe because its "cool", safe?, fun?, smells and tastes good, because they are addicted, influenced by celebrities and role models, its cheap, trendy, easily accessible, helps relax them and fit in? 

All these answers would be correct.

Now, let me ask you this, "If I were to ask you why people started smoking regular cigarettes, what might be some of your reasons? Are they the same reasons why teens are vaping? Is it history repeating itself?" 

There were over 15,000 e-cigarette flavors on the market including dessert, fruit, candy, mint and other flavors. The only reason I say "were" is because the state of New Jersey banned the sale of flavored vaping products in January of 2020. This did not include menthol and tobacco-flavored products. Before this ban teens were being enticed by all these flavors and in turn producing an addiction to the nicotine hidden inside, which we will address in a later post. These enticing flavors were targeting our youth to purchase. Matter of fact, they still are. Although the ban on flavors was enacted in 2020, stores are still selling these leftover products if they still have them in stock. 

Teens are being influenced by the lack of regulation, marketing, celebrity endorsement, and more!

Check back in on Monday for a breakdown on how big tobacco is targeting our youth! 

E-cigarettes are battery powered vaporizers originally used to inhale liquid nicotine. 
Inside of an E-cigarette is a battery that heats the liquid, which then produces "vapor"
These "vapors" are actually, aerosol! In other words...when your inhaling aerosol you are essentially inhaling hairspray (which is an aerosol). So, what is the difference between the two?
Vapor is a liquid that becomes a gas, whereas aerosol is a liquid that remains a liquid in tiny droplet form. 

Since they were first invented in 2003, E-cigarettes have evolved over the years. They used to look like real cigarettes called cig-a-like. These early E-cigarettes were disposable after a one time use.  When they started to gain popularity they morphed into different variations like vape pens, mods, and pod-based e-cigarettes (like Juul). As they morphed, E-cigarettes became more convenient and appealing for young users . This birthed the rechargeable and refillable models used today. They are even sold now to look like everyday items like USB's to normalize the use of these products & help disguise them when using in school and work.

Resources for this article are in part by the CDC, FDA and the NHIS

It's no secret that vaping is an issue. At least not to me. 
Clearly, the youth and even adults using electronic cigarettes (vape pens, Juul pods, mods, cig-a-like) do not know the data or the facts to the dangers of using these devices.

Today's post is going to highlight some of these data points and facts.
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Follow along for the next few weeks to discuss with me other topics on youth and adult vaping including: "What are electronic cigarettes?" , "How and why did they become so popular?" , "What are the potential health risks and concerns?" , "Am I being targeted to use these products?" ...and many more!

At this point, you might be wondering... "What is the data and facts?" well, here they are:
According to the findings from New Jersey Department of Health, the CDC and the FDA's National Youth Tobacco Survey..
- "The US cigarette smoking rate among youth have significantly decreased over the past decade. The current smoking rate for High School students in New Jersey is 5%."
So, if you are thinking that, that sounds pretty low! You would be right. But why is it so low? Because youth are not smoking cigarettes anymore. THEY ARE VAPING.
-"In 2007 Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (or Vapes) were introduced to the US and over the past 10 years, use of these devises has skyrocketed to almost 21% of US High School students in 2018"
-"Teens that initiate use of vapes are more likely to start using other tobacco products like hookah, cigars, and cigarettes. 65% of youth who had used an e-cig in the last 30 days also reported using another tobacco product in the same time frame." 
-"Popular to contrary belief, there is no sufficient evidence leading towards the use of e-cigarettes helping people quit smoking regular cigarettes."

These are only a handful of facts about the use of electronic cigarettes. I have not even breached the surface. 

Stay in the loop by following our Instagram and Facebook found on LEAD Phillipsburg home screen for post updates and other helpful information! 

"There were more than 81,000 drug overdose deaths between June 2019 and May 2020, according to the latest provisional numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS). 
​This is the largest number of drug overdoses ever recorded during a 12-month period. The number is an 18% increase from the prior 12-month period. 
The use of synthetic opioids, likely fentanyl, is a primary factor driving the overdoses. Deaths involving cocaine also increased 26.5% compared to the previous reporting period. 
While the increase began before the COVID epidemic, between March 2020 and May 2020 the deaths accelerated at a concerning rate."

To view the full article: HAN Archive - 00438 | Health Alert Network (HAN) (cdc.gov)