New Program for Youth to Quit Smoking or Vaping

This week Colorado, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Utah and Wyoming, have joined forces for combating teen vaping and smoking. The launch of the "MY Life, My Quit" program aims to help youth under the age of 18 to quit smoking and/or vaping.

Teens in the states that are involved with the program can simply call or text the helping, or go to the mylifemyquit.com website for help. The youth seeking assistance can then engage in a free and confidential live counseling session from a trained youth coach.

Teens who are in danger of vaping or smoking at an early age may find this service useful for a variety of reasons. Such as; learning how to cope with stress in healthy ways and finding out how why your body craves nicotine.

Created by National Jewish Health, the process starts by calling or texting the helpline or by visiting the website and submitting some basic information.

But why would a teen who vapes need this type of service?

It is no coincidence that this can be tied to...

The Rise of Teen Vaping

Recent studies by the National Institutes of Health on the number of teens who are using vape devices or e cigarettes show a year over year increase. With this rise of teen vape use sweeping across the country, a program such as this may be useful, and maybe a first targeted mainly at teen vape use.

Similar studies also suggest that vaping may increase nicotine use for people underage. One study conducted in 2018 by NIH surveyed 44,000 students in grades 8th, 10th, and 12th.

Their findings resulted in about 37% of 12th graders who reported vaping, compared to 28% in 2017. With the reasons they began using e cigarettes ranging from a friend or family member using, the availability of flavors, and the belief that e-cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarette use.

This information along with the launch of the program should indicate an epidemic of teens vaping everywhere. Yet this is not the case around the world.

For example. In the United Kingdom, teen vaping is reported to be at an all-time low. With more than three-quarters of youth having never tried vaping or e-cigarettes.

So we ask...

Will this teen vaping program be effective?

Quitlogix, the tobacco cessation program which develops the tobacco quitting process has been around since 2002. Using clinically proven methods to accomplish some of the highest tobacco quitting rates in the country.

Yet the activity with teens using their service has not been as expected. Teens have given feedback on why, citing that it is focused too much on adults and not created specifically at teens.

National Jewish Health listened to this feedback from teens. Then created multiple options for reaching out to the program and getting assistance. With an option for text messaging the helpline being one of them.

Other tobacco cessation programs that use text messaging options exist. Truth Initiative and Smokefree Teen being some of them. My Life, My Quit goes a step beyond. By offering structured sessions, as well as live coaching.

With all these points of contact that teens can use to stop smoking or vaping. Will they?

A clear difference of teen vape use from the US to the UK can be seen in the study done by the Action on Smoking and Health Organization. What else are we missing? Are teens being educated on the possible effects of vaping on their health and brain development? And also, how aware are they on the potential for addiction?

Maybe looking deeper at the vape use or lack of teens vaping in the UK is the first place to search for solutions.

For more information visit the My Life, My Quit website.

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Reference

- https://newsinhealth.nih.gov/2019/02/vaping-rises-among-teens
- https://truthinitiative.org/research-resources/emerging-tobacco-products/3-main-reasons-youth-use-e-cigarettes
- http://ash.org.uk/home/ 
- https://www.drugabuse.gov/related-topics/trends-statistics/infographics/teens-e-cigarettes