Currently, buying a vape is easier than purchasing a pack of cigarettes. This is because vapes are available at a variety of locations, including speciality stores, supermarkets, petrol stations, and even online. Frequently, only authorised outlets and those of legal age can purchase tobacco, making it a challenging purchase.
Cost can also be a motivator for young people, as using e-cigarettes is less expensive than smoking tobacco, which is an important aspect for them. Recent studies show that the benefits of e-cigarette usage are limited, yet their consumption is rapidly expanding among Spanish teens. This is a troubling fact for parents who are unaware of its consequences.
The vapers and their consumption
Álvaro Botella, a psychologist, works at the Community Prevention Unit for Addictive Behaviours (UPCCA) in Orihuela. He is an expert and up-to-date on teens’ use of electronic cigarettes, also known as vaping.
We dug deeper into the consumption of what is being marketed to us as a wolf in sheep’s clothing, hoping to reveal this new but hazardous alternative.
Do most young people use tobacco or vape?
If we consider the Survey on Drug Use in Secondary Education (ESTUDES) in Spain, a biannual study of the National Plan on Drugs that includes people aged fourteen to eighteen, 19.7% of young people in the Valencian Community smoked tobacco in the last thirty days (21.9% in the national average) and 25.8% smoked electronic cigarettes in the same time frame (25.3% in the national average).
Based on this study’s statistical data, we infer that tobacco usage has decreased slightly in the Valencian Community while e-cigarette use has increased significantly. Vaping has surpassed tobacco use among young people.
At what age do Spaniards begin vaping?
According to the results of this poll (2023), the average age of introduction into vaping is less than fourteen years old.
“Even without nicotine, e-cigarettes are harmful.”
What does an e-cigarette contain and how does it work?
They function by heating a liquid to a vapour, which is then inhaled. In most vapes, the vapour created by heating the liquid contains nicotine, as well as other hazardous compounds and flavourings.
Carbonyl elements, volatile organic compounds, particulate pollution, metal traces, formaldehyde, and acrolein, which accumulates in the lungs and causes superoxide generation, are examples of hazardous chemicals.
Some vape liquids include nicotine, while others do not. Does this affect your health?
Nicotine-free e-cigarettes do not contain the addictive active ingredient nicotine, which is a good thing. However, pulmonology experts believe that e-cigarettes are hazardous even without nicotine.
“Spaniards start vaping at thirteen or fourteen years old.”
Is vaping preferable to smoking cigarettes?
I don’t like comparing different possibly addictive behaviours. Tobacco may be the “hook” for certain people, while vaping may be the thing they can’t stop doing.
Compared to tobacco, e-cigarettes contain marginally fewer hazardous chemicals. But, what’s better? Falling from the fifth or seventh floor?
Can these devices lead to tobacco use?
They can lead to substance usage in general, not only tobacco. I want to emphasise that vaping alone is toxic enough to constitute a health risk to consumers, as its effects are identical to those of tobacco.
“E-cigarettes don’t help you quit smoking.”
Even so, some doctors advocate using them to help you quit smoking. Are e-cigarettes beneficial in this scenario?
The usual recommendation is no. According to recent studies, the usage of e-cigarettes has not reduced the number of persons suffering from tobacco addiction, but rather increased (gateway) their use among those who had never smoked before.
What do you believe parents of teenagers should understand about these technologies and their risks?
Fundamentally, they are not safe equipment. They should treat vaping as any other potentially addictive behaviour that is detrimental to their children’s health, such as consuming alcohol, smoking tobacco, smoking cannabis (joints), and so on.
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