Go Back To School Tobacco-Free
By A.J. Allen, Roosevelt County Tobacco Education Specialist
As August begins and the 2024-2025 school year approaches, parents of teenagers have a variety of things to consider ensuring their child is ready for school. Keeping youth from using tobacco and nicotine products might not seem as serious as other issues in today’s society. In fact, some parents may feel that smoking or other tobacco use is a “rite of passage” and that as kids get older, they will outgrow this behavior. However, as e-cigarette use, or vaping, has become popular among Montana’s youth, misinformation has caused some to deviate more than they might have realized.
A.J. Allen, local Tobacco Education Specialist states “e-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco or nicotine products among Montana teens. More than half of Montana High school students have tried e-cigarettes or vaping and one in four vape on a daily basis.”
E-cigarettes are called many things, such as vapes, mods, ehookahs, vape pens, tank systems and JUULS. They heat a liquid into an aerosol (not vapor) that is inhaled into the user’s lungs. One misconception is this aerosol is not just harmless water vapor. What is inhaled and exhaled from the device contains harmful substances such as ultra-fine particles that are inhaled into the lungs. Cancer causing chemicals and heavy metals such as nickel, tin and lead are also found in vaping devices.
“Once teens start using tobacco and nicotine in any form, including vaping products, they can quickly become addicted, and that addiction can lead to a lifetime of serious health problems”, states Allen. Consider
Continued on page 13 Tobacco
Continued from page 10
that many of the e-cigarettes or vaping products available today have at minimum as much nicotine as a pack of cigarettes, many of them with far more nicotine. An e-cigarette user could become the equivalent of a pack-aday smoker without realizing it.
Nicotine is highly addictive and, in any form, unsafe for the development of the young brain. Nicotine can also prime the brain for addiction to other drugs in the future. Oftentimes, these products are used as a method to de-stress, but most people don’t realize that the use of tobacco or nicotine is actually a stressor.
To help keep your children from using tobacco or vaping products, some important steps you can take include:
• Visit with your children about how addictive and dangerous tobacco and vaping can be.
• Make your home and your vehicles tobacco-free for everyone from family members, friends and guests.
• Tell your children you expect them to be tobacco-free.
• Encourage your children to be involved in activities at school, church or around the community.
• Don’t let your children watch movies, TV programming or video games that depict tobacco use.
• Find out where your community stands on policies known to reduce tobacco use by youth, such as school-based tobacco bans, smoke free policies, and high prices on tobacco products.
• Set a good example by not using tobacco yourself.
Note that social media is the main method used for advertising vaping products.
To get started on your quit journey, call 1-800-QUIT NOW or visiting www.QuitNowMontana. com. For questions on how to quit tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, contact me at 406-653-6212.
