Are kids vaping now instead of smoking?

[AngeNZ]

I'm 43, and I live in rural town in NZ. Started vaping 2 months ago to quit smoking. My 11 yo nephew was always on at me to quit, he knew every bad fact about smoking & obviously had been well educated about the smoking dangers at school!

Now I'm vaping he's curious about my gear, but in the same way he's curious about my phone or mp3 player - its just another gadget - but one that means his aunt doesn't smoke anymore. I've also gotten him to understand that nicotine is a poision to non smokers, so he 'looks but doesn't touch'.

My interest is, he told me that a couple of 12-13 yo kids at his tiny rural school bring a vape to school. Mainly he says to do 'cool' tricks. I was initially shocked, but thought back to my own childhood of trying smoking for the first time. I was a late bloomer at 16, but plenty of others tried it a lot earlier.

To me, I'd rather see a kid who has to experiment with something, reach for a vape (preferably with 0% nicotine) than a cigarette.

Interested in what is happening in larger towns & cities

 

[Baditude]

Its probably a worldwide phenomenon. I've had gradeschool kids tell me, "Hey, I like your vape" while I was vaping outside the door of the local library, so they know what it is. I've even had a couple ask me to let them have a hit, and of course I've told them they aren't old enough to vape. Kids likely watch vape tricks on You Tube and other social media. In a way, they may see vaping as just a new craze.

Like you, I'd rather kids experiment with a vape than to smoke. But smoking and vaping are both adult behaviors. There are laws in place to prevent minors from doing either one.

A few years ago, my son started smoking. I tried to get him to quit, especially because he often told me I should stop smoking back in the day. He argued that he wasn't addicted and could quit at any time, but we all know how that story turns out. I even let him use one of my vapes, but he said he didn't like it as much as smoking.

To add to the story, when I began vaping I would allow my 17 y/o daughter taste my new flavors in our home. She wanted to have her own vape set to vape 0-nic flavors. She said that all her friends, boyfriend, and brother all smoked when they hung out together, she didn't want to smoke but was feeling some peer pressure to do something similar but safer like vaping to fit in with the crowd.

I told her if she still wanted to vape when she turned 18 (legal age) I'd buy her one. She did, I did, and she began to vape 0-nic recreationally. It turned out to be just a phase for her because she no longer vapes. However, once her BF and brother accepted her vaping, they got their own. Today, instead of smoking they both are vaping.

Concerning my son, funny how his sister had more influence than Dad on his making the switch.

 

[stols001]

I do agree that it's better for a teen to vape than smoke, but it's not exactly ideal. I will say a certain percentage of teens are probably going to try either or both. My own son did, becoming a smoker and when he asked me for help to vape (coming clean) as it were, I supported (including financially) his vaping habit, as I felt it to be MUCH healthier. With that said, he then went on to successfully quit vaping, and I was glad about that. He gifted me "HIS" setup (which didn't work for me he was a sub0hmer) but it was kind of nice to see things coming full circle.

As a fairly youthful "adopter" of cigarettes, I also know that a certain percentage of teens will do either, and no laws or regulations are going to stop that from happening. Of course for the teen's sake I hope they chose vaping as their "I'm going to act out" event. However, I think overfocusing on the minority of teens that do it, is a mistake. They will find ways to vape or smoke regardless, and will then live with the consequences.

Most of the "rhetoric" around teen smoking or vaping is merely used to justify sin taxes, regulation, and etc.

We have teens eating tide pods, and yet we sit around worrying whether they're going to vape or smoke or WHATEVER. Of course they are, come on now, and the more it's "addressed" the more teens want to do it. Which is exactly what the government wants. The minute their agenda is "implemented" the problem is "magically" solved, for the present, and more vapers and smokers will be created, to buy the products the government "needs" to make money.

Sorry, I'm jaded. I was jaded as a teen, too. Etc.

Anna

 

[Vapemesilly]

Teens are going to do all sorts of things us grown ups wish they wouldn't do. It's what teens do. It's normal. It doesn't make it good or even ok...some of the things they do, but they have to experience life and learn from their own mistakes, just like we did (and still do).

 

[AngeNZ]

but they have to experience life and learn from their own mistakes, just like we did (and still do).

Oh yeah, couldn't agree more. My first smoke as a teen tasted like absolute #%$&. So why I have a second one?!!!!!

 

[Beamslider]

Teenagers are likely to do anything adults don't want them to do. I remember smoking, drinking beer, etc as a teen. That is just life.

 

[Cas002]

Very timely thread - I have been collecting some research (U.S. only) and was going to start a similar thread soon. Given you beat me to the presses, I'll share my quick opinions and some charts and links I found. While I do love math, I don't want to get into statistical mumbo jumbo, just common sense conclusions.

The first chart shows youth cigarette use over the last 25+ years. It peeks at 25% for 12th graders, 18% for 10th and 10% for 8th around 1996. After that, use PLUMMETS across the board - great news for millions of young Americans that dodged an addiction bullet and shortened life.

The second chart shows ALL "tobacco" product use, including e-cigs, from 2011 to 2016. I am drawing some conclusions (not proof) based on my observations of this data and life experiences.

1. Teens are risk-taking machines (I have lifelong scars to prove it) because most don't understand the concept of death. This is even more true in today's gaming culture where death typically means waiting to respawn or reload (unfortunately). This is consistent with the first data column cluster for "Any" tobacco product type - it has remained stable over 5 years. We cannot regulate teens taking fewer risks - good parenting might help a little. C'est la vie.
2. "Combustible" use has dropped by almost 1/3 and "Cigarettes" by almost 1/2 (from 16% to 8%) over the period of 6 years measured - consistent with the first chart of declining cigarette use. Great news - let's throw a cloudy BYOV party to celebrate!
3. "E-Cigarettes" use has increased about 6X from about 2-12% during the period, peaking in 2015. Alone, this is not good news since I believe most responsible adults don't want kids vaping.
4. The steady and sharp decline we saw following the 1996 cigarette use peak in the first chart saw a 50% reduction in 12th grade (using them as the example) cigarette use in about 11 years ('96 to '07). Then we see another almost 50% reduction from 2011 to 2016 - just 6 years. The rate of decline of cigarette use has accelerated during the same period vaping use has been exponential! Not a coincidence IMO.

So here's the silver lining on the teen vaping cloud (pun intended) - I believe some teens that would have smoked cigs opted for vaping and some that had already started smoking converted. Once again, this is just an observation and without deep analysis I couldn't tell you if there's statistical significance and not even sure if the publicly available data set is granular enough to validate my hypothesis. I just hope the FDA knows that if they target the e-cig industry, it could have negative consequences for decreasing use of cigarettes, and other risky behaviours, but I still feel optimistic they won't significantly disrupt the vaping industry...I hope?

Cas002

 

[Rossum]

Are kids vaping now instead of smoking?

If so, I would consider that to be A Good Thing.

 

[AngeNZ]

So here's the silver lining on the teen vaping cloud (pun intended) - I believe some teens that would have smoked cigs opted for vaping and some that had already started smoking converted.

Those stats sure said a lot! To me it seems smoking tobacco has become so 'uncool' kids simply aren't 'into' trying it out. Education and maybe seeing the negative health effects on family has done its job.

 

[Vaperer]

My kids are all grown but.
As long as it's not drugs I could care less. when they were teenagers I don't think vaping was very popular. However if your kid is vaping consider yourself lucky look at the alternatives. . I started smoking cigarettes when I was 16. If I had a 16 year old kid again. How could I tell him that he can't when I did. That would make me a hypocrite. But I don't think there was any age law Because I used to buy them at the gas stations with no problem. If he or she decided to vape I would have no problem with it. As long as it is not green Vape. Miraculously none of my kids Vape or smoke. Teenagers will drive you out of your mind. I got four children. When I know one of them is going to mess up I advise them if they don't listen. Oh well. Then you get the song and dance Dad I should have listened to you. They're going to make mistakes I made a bunch of them. Long as they learn from their mistakes I guess.

 

[ScottP]

If a kid was already smoking, or planning on smoking I would rather them vape. However as others have pointed out, too many of them want to vape just b/c of the Cloud Trick YT'ers. Which is both sadening and horrible for our cause. The FDA would do more toward keeping kids from starting by banning vape trick vids than by banning flavors, but the first amendment prevents the former (which is also a good thing).

Now there is also a HUGE difference between kids getting cigarettes to bring to school and kids getting a vape to bring to school. Usually if a really young kid gets a hold of a cigarette they usually stole one from their parents and their parents never missed one occasional cigarette. However if they steal their parents vape, I promise that will be missed ... quickly. This means that they are somehow able to obtain their OWN vape gear at that age, and that IS a problem. I am not sure if parents are buying them and getting 0 nic juice or how they are getting them, but that needs to stop.

 

[ScottP]

That would make me a hypocrite.

Sometimes to be a good parent you have to be a hypocrite IMHO. Just because you did something wrong doesn't mean you shouldn't teach your kids that it is wrong. Hell if I let my kid do everything I did with no repercussions just because I did it, then she would think that nothing at all was wrong to do. Luckily my only kid is now 18 and while she makes most of her own decisions there are still some boundaries that we hold her to. If she chose to vape though I would let her, but she is going to have to pay for it all herself. I am certainly not paying for someone to start a new habit.

 

[Vaperer]

Sometimes to be a good parent you have to be a hypocrite IMHO. Just because you did something wrong doesn't mean you shouldn't teach your kids that it is wrong. Hell if I let my kid do everything I did with no repercussions just because I did it, then she would think that nothing at all was wrong to do. Luckily my only kid is now 18 and while she makes most of her own decisions there are still some boundaries that we hold her to. If she chose to vape though I would let her, but she is going to have to pay for it all herself. I am certainly not paying for someone to start a new habit.

I know but when I did it it wasn't wrong. Different generation. But at least the outcome was good.

 

[smacuser]

Juuling, sigh .

 

[Upinsmoke]

Here in U.K. I would say yes.
Access to cigarettes is much harder these days.
We have plain packs not displayed at point of sale . ID required to purchase if you appear under 25.
Vape juice is not even behind the counter in many stores.
If they won't let you buy it kids will probably get shorty out of jail.
When I started smoking at 14 loads of kids smoked.
I can't remember the last time I saw a kid smoking in the street.
I've never seen a kid vape either .
Though NHS statistics show under age use to be fairly widespread.
I do live in a rural area so my observations are limited.

 

[IgnorantCig]

I don't see this as a big deal at all.

Kids are going to be kids regardless and some of them are always going to want to try out different sorts of things.

They can consider themselves lucky that this isn't ten years ago, because I think that many of them would be puffing away on cigs instead of playing with a vape.

 

[CMD-Ky]

Who cares? It is like everything else today, if they are going to do it, who will stop them? It certainly won't be their parents, they are too busy on their smart phones.

 

[ScottP]

Who cares? It is like everything else today, if they are going to do it, who will stop them? It certainly won't be their parents, they are too busy on their smart phones.

Unless their parent is like me. I use my phone so much, I only have to recharge it every Friday night and I made it my business to know what my kid was up to as much as humanly possible.

I do agree most parents these days are too wrapped up in their own "stuff" to pay much attention to what their kids are doing, and then blame the schools and government when their kid gets in trouble.

 

[Belhade]

I got into it on Facebook with some moms concerned about "juuling" and teen vaping in general. Tried to educate them a bit on the subject but they would have none of it. Formaldehyde, popcorn lung, they were drowning in the propaganda. Of course, kids shouldn't be using smoking cessation devices, but if you can get teenagers to stop doing stupid stuff in general, I'll personally hand you the Nobel prize.

 

[r77r7r]

I didn't have a problem with the teen thing until the past year when they went from being older teens having fun mostly blowing clouds to now when it's middle schoolers getting stoned off of 50mg/ml juuls.