Teen and Young Adult Vaping

September 25th, 2023

By P. Casey Arrillaga, LCSW, LCDC

Teen
and young adult use of electronic nicotine products, commonly known as
“vaping,” has been growing at an alarming rate, so much so that many healthcare
professionals are referring to teen and young adult vaping as an epidemic. In
this post, we’ll explore what vaping entails, how it affects teens and young
adults, and how it can impact other addictions and mental health.

What
We Know So Far

Vaping
products work by heating liquids and creating a vapor that the user inhales. This
is often mistaken for harmless water vapor, but this is a definitely not the
case. It almost always contains nicotine, volatile compounds, chemicals known
to cause cancer, and even heavy metals such as lead, tin, and nickel. To make
things worse, flavorings are often added to make the vapor sweet and more
appealing. These flavorings, which are part of what make vaping appealing to
teens and young adults, are not only a way to tempt kids to use vaping
products, but the flavorings themselves use chemicals that are linked to
serious lung disease.

To
compound matters, most teens who use vaping products are introduced by friends
and peers, and they see it as cool and a way to gain social status. They don’t
realize that what they are trying is potentially very addictive. Rates of teen
vaping are thus growing at a rapid clip, sometimes doubling from one year to
the next.

The
Center for Disease Control [CDC] rates vaping as harmful at all ages, but
particularly dangerous for young people, whose brains and bodies are still
developing. This is in part because 99% of all vaping products contain
nicotine, even some of those labeled as having “0% nicotine.” Nicotine is one
of the most addictive substances known to mankind, and it is associated with a
wide range of health problems. Alarmingly, 2 out of 3 teens surveyed who used
vaping products did not realize that they contain nicotine. Once hooked on the
nicotine in vaping products, these same teens are much more likely to use
cigarettes and other tobacco products. Given that about half of all people who
use tobacco will die from tobacco-related health conditions, the use of vaping
products is a true gateway to the world’s deadliest drug: nicotine.

Vaping
can also be a gateway to other drug use as well. The most obvious of these is
THC, which is commonly vaped by teens and young adults. Since THC vaping
products can look and smell identical to nicotine vaping products, teens may be
vaping THC in public or in front of their parents without anyone around them
being aware of what it happening. Teens may be introduced to THC use via vaping
since the drug is delivered through the already-familiar route of vaping.

While
less common, other drugs can be delivered through vaping, posing the danger of
teens and young adults ramping up from less to more potent drugs through the
same system they already know. Even if this doesn’t happen so directly,
adolescent vaping has a high correlation with other drug use and risky sexual
behavior.

Nicotine
and THC use are also both correlated with mental health problems beyond the
addiction risk they pose. This includes depression and anxiety, as well as THC
being increasingly associated with psychotic disorders including schizophrenia,
which most often shows up during late adolescence.

What
to Do if Your Teen or Young Adult Child is Vaping

As
with all adolescent drug use, lecturing teens and young adults is not usually
effective. Instead, having open dialogue about the risks and offering a
listening ear will go much further. Talk to teens about how to tell if use if
becoming problematic. Let them know you will support them in getting help if
they need it. If vaping is becoming a gateway for other drug use, it is a good
idea to familiarize yourself with treatment options such as outpatient and
residential treatment centers. While they may think you are overreacting by
discussing this with them, talking frankly about treatment options before
things get out of hand is much easier than trying to decide what to do in the
middle of a crisis.

The
Bottom Line

Vaping
is growing rapidly among teens and young adults. It can lead to addiction and
other serious physical and mental health consequences. If you see vaping in
teens or young adults in your family, talk frankly but non-judgmentally to them
about the risks. Be familiar with treatment options if things start to get
worse, because when it comes to addiction, it is always better to be prepared
than caught off guard.

About The Author

P. Casey Arrillaga is the Team Leader for Education at
Windmill Wellness Ranch, and he is the author of books including “Realistic
Hope: The Family Survival Guide for Facing Alcoholism and Other Addictions”.
His books, podcast, videos, etc. can be found at CaseyAuthor.com