Here’s some news worth celebrating: Fewer Americans than ever are smoking cigarettes.
Now here’s the buzzkill: Vaping is a big reason why teens and young adults are disproportionately addicted to nicotine.
Nicotine is highly addictive. Marketed to young people and people trying to quit regular cigarettes, electronic cigarettes offer users the ability to inhale flavored nicotine. These e-cigarettes, or “vapes,” are generally viewed as less harmful than their combustible counterparts. But they are not without harm, said Gina Kruse, MD, MPH, associate professor in the Division of General Internal Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.
This is the fourth article in a CU Anschutz Newsroom series exploring addiction, a serious public health issue our doctors and researchers are working hard to address.
See other articles in the series.
“Tobacco use is still the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S.,” Kruse said. “And ‘vaping’ is problematic for two reasons. First, the marketplace continues to evolve making regulation of the products people consume challenging. Second, we don’t yet know the long-term impacts of using e-cigarettes.”
Kruse serves as director of the Colorado Nicotine, E-Cigarettes, and Tobacco Research Alliance (CoNECTR) at CU Anschutz. In the following Q&A, she shares what we know about vaping – and perhaps more significantly – what we do not know about using e-cigarettes to consume nicotine.