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Charla Huber: As young Canadians turn to vaping, we should be worried

There is something both captivating and unnatural about the billowing vape clouds that people exhale into the air. The exhaled clouds are an artificial bright white and they expand as they fill the air — it’s hard not to notice them.
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Vaping by young people in Canada and across the globe continues to rise, and is being exacerbated by nicotine and cannabis infused into child-friendly flavours, Charla Huber writes.

There is something both captivating and unnatural about the billowing vape clouds that people exhale into the air. The exhaled clouds are an artificial bright white and they expand as they fill the air — it’s hard not to notice them.

Lately, my social-media news feeds have been filling up with stories about teens in hospital hooked up to tubes on the brink of death. The cause of the respiratory failure or illness is vaping.

Most of these stories are from south of the border, and then on Wednesday came the first reported Canadian case linked to vaping. The Ontario teen was on life support, and health officials stated the teen was known to vape daily.

More teens are turning to vaping rather than smoking cigarettes or drinking alcohol. It’s a mix of technology, vices and good old rebellion.

These stories are scary. Equally scary is that the vape “juices” come in flavours such as bubble gum, cotton candy and butterscotch. Teen vaping in Canada and across the globe continues to rise, and with nicotine and cannabis infused into child-friendly flavours, this isn’t a surprise.

Vaping has also been touted as a “safer” alternative to smoking tobacco. Whether it’s true or not, this claim can sway people, especially teens, to think they are picking the healthier option.

But we are learning that vaping isn’t a safe option, although I think many people still believe it is.

Several years ago, I interviewed a vape-store owner when I noticed the big boom in the industry. I was told that the only people who purchased the products were smokers using them as cessation tools. The store owner said vaping wasn’t something non-smokers would be drawn to.

But today, teens are bypassing traditional cigarettes and starting with vaping.

It has been reported that so far seven people in the U.S. have died of the suspected vape-related illness.

I knew vaping was an issue, but recently I overheard some moms talking about their kids in middle school and I actually got nervous for my own kid.

“Does your kid vape yet?” one mother asked another. “No,” the mother answered. “You should check their room, all the kids are vaping now. Every kid I know,” a third mother chimed in.

I was shocked and scared to overhear this conversation, because I have a child who in a couple of short years will be in middle school.

I have never vaped in my life, and even when I was curious what a cotton-candy-flavoured cloud might taste like, I refrained. I quit smoking cigarettes more than 10 years ago, and I know if I tried a vape it could be a slippery slope back to smoking.

I started smoking as a young teen. I knew it was unhealthy and dangerous, but it was cool. I smoked well into my 20s, and after several attempts, I was successful at quitting.

When I was young, people smoked cigarettes everywhere. Fast-food restaurants had little foil one-time-use ashtrays, ashtrays lined the hallways of shopping malls and smokers had free rein about lighting up anywhere outdoors.

There were designated smoking areas in my middle school and high school, as I’m sure there were in many of your schools, too.

I didn’t come from a family of smokers; no one in my family smoked. I smoked because my friends smoked and I wanted to fit in. Even though I knew the health dangers, I didn’t think it would affect me.

Teens smoking cigarettes isn’t a good choice, and teens vaping isn’t a good choice, either. Teen rebellion has been around since the beginning of time. I understand why the teens of today vape — it’s the same reason I was a young teen in the 1990s smoking cigarettes.

We also need to remember that these are addictive substances, and once a kid is addicted, the chances of convincing them to quit diminish.

The teen vaping epidemic is growing because teens think it’s safe, or safer than smoking, and the fruity flavours don’t help. Honestly, who are these companies making cotton-candy flavouring for?

Charla Huber is the director of communications and Indigenous relations for M’akola Housing Society and M’akola Development Services.