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Surgeon General: Increase in vaping 'a major public health concern' for nation's youth

 
Kyle Osowski, 24, store manager of Central Avenue Vapors in St. Petersburg, gave up smoking for vaping.
Kyle Osowski, 24, store manager of Central Avenue Vapors in St. Petersburg, gave up smoking for vaping.
Published Dec. 9, 2016

Vaping among high school students has soared an eye-popping 900 percent since 2011 — so much so that e-cigarettes are now the most commonly used form of tobacco among young people, according to a report released Thursday by the U.S. Surgeon General.

The trend, Surgeon General Vivek Murthy wrote in the preface, constitutes a "major public health concern."

The 298-page report does not provide new insight into the health effects of vaping. It is significant, however, because the nation's top doctor deems the practice "unsafe" and issues a call to protect young people from its harmful effects.

"It absolutely puts an onus on all of us who are seeing patients to not only ask if they are smoking combustible cigarettes, but to ask if they are smoking e-cigarettes," said Dr. Thomas Casale, a University of South Florida professor who has studied e-cigarette use.

The Surgeon General's Office issued a similar report on the health consequences of smoking in 1964.

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices that heat liquid nicotine into a vapor for users to inhale. Cheap ones cost only a few dollars; higher-quality ones can set you back $200.

The nicotine, sometimes called e-juice or e-liquid, comes in flavors like blueberry cheesecake, cereal milk and Havana rum. A small bottle typically costs about $20.

Vaping enthusiasts say e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes and cigars, which produce tar and carbon monoxide. But studies have shown nicotine to be dangerous on its own. What's more, many of the other chemicals in e-cigarettes are poorly understood.

"A lot of these liquids are being mixed in the back rooms of vapor shops," Casale said. "It is very difficult to get a good handle on what people are being exposed to."

The industry is subject to some regulation. In August, the Food and Drug Administration banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors — something that was already prohibited in Florida. But other provisions of the FDA's new rule, including warning-label requirements, won't take effect until 2018.

The report from the surgeon general brought together research focused on adolescents and young adults. It did not address usage by people older than 24.

The report conceded that much is still unknown about the chemical used to flavor e-liquid. But it pointed to research showing nicotine exposure can be particularly harmful to a developing adolescent brain, and debunked the myth that e-cigarette aerosol is "harmless" water vapor.

Among its other major conclusions, the report showed nearly 7 percent of eighth-graders and 10 percent of 12th-graders had used e-cigarettes within the past 30 days — a larger share than had smoked traditional cigarettes over the same period.

There were no signs of e-cigarettes outside St. Petersburg High after school Thursday. The devices are not allowed on school grounds, senior Miranda Centeno said.

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Still, Noah Byers, a sophomore, called vaping "a pretty big activity" among his peers. "To me, it's stupid," he said. "But I think some people think it looks cool."

Estill Loyd, a 17-year-old senior, wasn't surprised by the surgeon general's report. Vaping, she said, "is a problem and could be dangerous."

The reaction was different at Central Avenue Vapors in St. Petersburg. "It sucks because it's not like we're not already asking people for ID," employee Kyle Osowski said.

Osowski, 24, started vaping three years ago and has since stopped smoking cigarettes. He believes the federal health officials want people to be afraid of e-cigarettes so they can tighten regulations.

"Nothing has changed," Osow­ski said, clouds of custard-scented vapor streaming from his nostrils. "But they just want to tax and regulate it like tobacco."

Contact Kathleen McGrory at kmcgrory@tampabay.com or (727) 893-8330. Follow @kmcgrory.