Hi Everyone,
Around the nation, leaders are calling for a ban on flavored e-cigarettes. Vaping is now the latest healthcare epidemic for adolescents. In the U.S., five million minors have tried e-cigarettes and 25% of high schoolers have vaped in the past month. At a time when smoking cigarettes has been declining, vaping has dramatically increased. According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), 67% of those vaping are between 18 and 34 years old with more than half under 25.
Chemicals in e-cigarettes cause lung disease and cancer, and we all know about nicotine’s relationship to heart diseases. In the U.S., 480,000 people already die yearly from nicotine. Now, vaping has added on at least 700 recent respiratory diseases, plus 8 deaths.
And that’s just the beginning. What about the adverse effects on a child’s developing brain?
What makes it worse is that the vaping manufacturers are targeting adolescents with names such as Bubblicious or Harmless, available through the internet and easily concealable. The flavored, which have more nicotine in them than cigarettes, are attracting teenagers who have never smoked before and are now becoming addicted.
Adolescents who use nicotine are 2-3 times more likely to use marijuana and other drugs, and research shows that smokers have more difficulty recovering from substance addictions than non-smokers.
McRISC© offers the first assessment that looks at cigarette and vaping equivalents to help track addictions related to both. Its proven diagnostics include acute and chronic illness severity, at 3-month, 12-month, and beyond 12-month intervals, plus the lifelong risk factors, and resilience factors to integrate the most effective treatment plan for healthcare providers working with people suffering with substance addictions.
Please consider using our assessment with your patients.
Thank you for allowing us to share with you.
Joyce and Calvin