Until now, the storm over e-cigarettes has largely focused on how to keep the products away from minors. But the pervasiveness of nicotine addiction among teenagers who already use the devices is now sinking in — and there is no clear science or treatment to help them stop.
“Nobody is quite sure what to do with those wanting to quit, as this is all so new,” said Ira Sachnoff, president of Peer Resource Training and Consulting in San Francisco, which trains students to educate peers about smoking and vaping. “We are all searching for quit ideas and services for this new nicotine delivery method. It is desperately needed.”
A harsh irony underlies the search for solutions: Devices that manufacturers designed to help adults quit smoking have become devices that teenagers who never smoked are themselves fighting to quit.
The Food and Drug Administration and the attorney general of Massachusetts are investigating Juul Labs, the maker of the most popular e-cigarettes, to determine whether it deliberately lured teenagers with its sleek packaging and flavors.
On Monday Monitoring the Future, an annual survey of American teenagers’ drug use sponsored by the federal government’s National Institute on Drug Abuse and conducted by the University of Michigan, reported that teen use of e-cigarettes soared in 2018.
The survey also found that many students believe they are vaping “just flavoring.” In fact, just about all brands include nicotine, and Juul has particularly high levels of it.
The amount of nicotine each person inhales and then absorbs through e-cigarettes is difficult to measure. A formula for reducing cigarettes doesn’t readily translate to pods or cartridges.
Moreover, medications for breaking nicotine’s hold over cigarette smokers, including nicotine patches and prescriptions, don’t work for everyone and are mostly approved just for adults.
Absent formal guidance, pediatricians are stymied. “We are using our best judgment but we don’t know exactly what to do. There’s no sound science yet,” said Dr. Susanne E. Tanski, who will represent the American Academy of Pediatrics at an FDA hearing next year on vaping interventions.
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.