Warning that history is ‘repeating itself’ amid rise in teenage vaping

A rise in the number of young people using e-cigarettes has prompted a warning to learn lessons from the anti-smoking efforts of previous generations “before we allow history to repeat itself with e-cigarettes”.

Preliminary results released by the National Drug Council last week indicate that 29% of students in Cayman between the ages of 11 to 18 had tried an e-cigarette.

A total of 3,608 students, among both public and private school students across Grand Cayman and Cayman Brac, were questioned as part of the NDC’s student drug use survey carried out every two years.

Young people are three times more likely to have tried an e-cigarette/vape at the age of 13 years or younger when compared to the use of a traditional cigarette, the 2022 results also indicate.

Simon Miller, the NDC’s prevention specialist quoted research from UC Davis and Stanford University, which indicates that “every big tobacco company owns at least one e-cigarette or vape company, even though the message is that e-cigarettes are somehow ‘disrupting regular smoking’”.

“We must take the lessons that we learned from the anti-smoking efforts of the 80s and 90s and apply them now, before we allow history to repeat itself with e-cigarettes,” he said.

Cayman’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Nick Gent, in a 1 March emailed comment to the Cayman Compass, stressed “first and foremost” that people of all ages “should refrain from taking up use of tobacco in any form”.

However, usage by young people in particular is a health concern.

“It will be important to monitor the trend in vaping use amongst our young people to determine the impact of prevention and education programming,” Gent said.

Long-term safety worries

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, on its information page on tobacco, warns that “Nicotine exposure can harm adolescent and young adult brain development, which continues into the early to mid-20s”.

Gent, speaking to the general use of e-cigarettes, said, while vaping of nicotine containing products is thought of as “safer than using tobacco products, it is probably best to think of nicotine vaping as a safer step-down product with a view to not needing to use either tobacco or nicotine vaping”.

“Vaping systems have been available for some years now and appear to be relatively safe if properly manufactured, however, the reality is that there is still a gap in terms of research that speaks to the long-term safety of vaping,” he said.

Alcohol, e-cigarettes and ganja top drug choices

For 2022, the top three drugs of choice among students continued to be alcohol, e-cigarettes, and marijuana, as found in previous surveys.

Alcohol is still the number one drug of choice among Cayman’s teens, it said, with 41% of the students surveyed indicating the use of alcohol at least once in their lifetime.

“This finding is in line with both regional and global data where alcohol is also the primary drug of choice among teens,” according to the NDC’s statement.

Awareness of the risks

When it comes to marijuana, 14% of students reported having tried marijuana at least once – which constitutes a slight decrease from the 2020 results.

“2022 CISDUS findings conclude that while students’ perception towards the risks associated with regular marijuana use is high, their attitude towards occasional use still varies greatly, with 25% believing there is no risk from trying marijuana once or twice,” it added.

According to the findings, perception of the harm and risk “surrounding substance use is also relatively high”.

66% perceived “great risk” in smoking one or more packs of cigarettes a day; 49% in daily alcohol consumption and 47% for regularly smoking marijuana.

“A great majority of students also reported that their friends would not approve of them using a substance like alcohol or marijuana, which according to global research, represents a critical protective factor in delaying the onset of youth substance use,” the statement asserted.

Minister for Health and Wellness Sabrina Turner, commenting on the survey, said the work of the NDC was crucial because of its “long-standing data-driven approach” as well as actively seeking feedback from the community.

“It is important to understand not only the behaviours and attitudes of our youth towards alcohol and other drugs, but also their knowledge gaps and willingness to learn more on these important subjects,” she said.

The NDC currently works with both primary and high schools to provide students with evidence-based drug education in an interactive and informative manner.

The council said the aim of all prevention programming is to “empower young people with the skills and knowledge necessary to make positive and healthy life choices”.