Tobacco

COVID-19 Alert

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness and data tells us that it is even more dangerous for people who smoke and vape.  According to the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids: “Never has it been more important for smokers to quit and for individuals to avoid damaging their lungs by vaping.”

According to Dr. Nora Volkow, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), “Because it attacks the lungs, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 could be an especially serious threat to those who smoke tobacco or marijuana or who vape.” “It is therefore reasonable to be concerned that compromised lung function or lung disease related to smoking history, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), could put people at risk for serious complications of COVID-19.”  Read the full article here.

“Vaping, like smoking, may also harm lung health. Whether it can lead to COPD is still unknown, but emerging evidence suggests that exposure to aerosols from e-cigarettes harms the cells of the lung and diminishes the ability to respond to infection.”

Additional Resources:

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids has produced a set of online resources to help parents help their teens quit vaping as part of their Protect Kids: Fight Flavored E-Cigarettes campaign.  Click here to learn more.

The Truth Initiative has Covid-19 information for teens and the text-based program This Is Quitting.

Check out Clearing the Vapor, an online tool to explore what is known about e-cigarettes.

In the News:

CNN: “How smoking, vaping and drug use might increase risks from Covid-19”

ABC: “Vaping and e-cigarettes: Adding fuel to the coronavirus fire?“

UCSF: “Reduce your risk of serious lung disease caused by corona virus by quitting smoking and vaping”

Healthy Lamoille Valley Tobacco Prevention Task Force
Join the Healthy Lamoille Valley Tobacco Prevention Task Force and/or share your experiences and knowledge in your schools, towns and workplaces. Please share with us your concerns around tobacco products. We are also collecting information about workplaces, organizations, schools, towns, public spaces and events that are smoke-free or interested in support in educational opportunities about policy enhancement on this topic. Contact Alison at alison@healthylamoillevalley.org

Taking Down Tobacco – Attention youth and adults! Take these free online classes to get the skills, knowledge and tools you need to fight tobacco use in your community.

ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES AND VAPING

New data from the 2017 Vermont Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) shows that, on average, Vermont middle school and high school students are more likely to have tried electronic vapor products like e-cigarettes in 2017 compared to 2015, increasing from 7% to 9% for middle schoolers and from 30% to 34% for high schoolers.

Read more on electronic cigarettes, vaping and juuling