Sonoma Valley High combats e-cigs

Vaping ‘epidemic’ casts cloud over Sonoma youth.|

Despite the 2016 law that raised the smoking age in California from 18 to 21, smoking among teens has reached “epidemic” levels, according to federal Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb.

But most kids aren’t reaching for the Marlboros anymore. Smoking, like almost everything else, is now solidly next-gen.

“I use the word epidemic with great care,” Gottlieb wrote in a statement to address underage smoking, released Sept. 12. “E-cigs have become an almost ubiquitous - and dangerous - trend among teens.”

At Sonoma Valley High School, and on high school campuses across the county, kids are using electronic cigarettes, or “vapes,” all day long.

“I’ve seen kids vape in class when the teachers are not looking,” said sophomore Kylie Hopp. “It is definitely a problem at SVHS.”

Vice principal Aaron Gildengorin, who represents the administration on a recently-formed e-cig task force, agreed. “Vaping is a problem among secondary schools across the country, and is currently our most frequent substance abuse infraction,” he said.

Companies like Juul Labs, which produces a vape pen that looks like a computer flash drive, claim the electronic devices are intended to eradicate smoking. Rather than burning tobacco, the devices heat up cartridges of flavored, nicotine-infused liquids, forming a vapor to be inhaled. But the flavor menu for some of the cartridges reads like mile markers from the Candy Cane Forest: twirly pop, whip’d strawberry, v’nilla cookies and milk, sour smurf sauce. The packaging is cartoonish in a way that would likely appeal to kids.

On Nov. 12, the FDA announced plans to place new limits on flavored vape cartridges, restricting their location in stores to areas closed off to kids. During a call from the Index-Tribune to the 7-Eleven on West Napa Street last Friday, a clerk confirmed that the store stocks e-cigs and flavored cartridges. E-cigarette merchants are not yet required to cordon off vape aisles from kids – and may not be for a while. Such a law could face legal challenges from the e-cig industry.

On Nov. 13, in anticipation of upcoming new FDA restrictions, Juul Labs - a company which has cornered 70 percent of the billion-dollar e-cigarette market - announced it would voluntarily suspend retail sales of most of its flavored e-cartridges and discontinue all social media promotions.

Aggressive marketing campaigns are credited with the surge in e-cig popularity. At Juul Labs alone, sales in 2017 were 641 percent higher than in 2016, when the FDA estimated there were more than 2 million American middle and high school students using e-cigarettes on a regular basis. According to the 2018 National Youth Tobacco Survey released last week, the number of middle and high school students who currently vape soared to 3.6 million in 2018.

A tobacco cigarette contains about 9 milligrams of nicotine, but 8 grams are burned away when it’s smoked. A teaspoon of 12 milligram e-liquid is equivalent to 60 cigarettes, and Juul cartridges contain the nicotine of 20.

“Kids get addicted super quick,” said Katie Klauber, who graduated from SVHS in 2016. “But there’s a culture around it, like, ‘all the cool kids vape.’”

Administrators at SVHS are working hard to counteract that culture with a zero-tolerance policy at the high school.

“On a first offense, students get a one-day in-school suspension, a referral to Youth and Family Services, and drug and alcohol counseling,” said Gildengorin.

But whether that policy is having the desired effect remains unclear.

“I don’t see it as a problem, just more something that is happening now,” said an SVHS senior who preferred not to be named. “Obviously, it’s bad for the body, but I don’t think it’s ruining lives.”

Sonoma Valley High School senior Logan Mak believes kids think vaping is different from smoking. “And, yes, the fruity flavors are appealing to kids,” Mak said. “But taking them away isn’t going to stop the kids who are addicts.”

According to neurologists, nicotine affects developing brains and may rewire them to be more susceptible to addiction. The prefrontal cortex, responsible for executive functions and attention performance, is still developing in adolescence. Anti-smoking groups say teen smokers are at increased risk for psychiatric disorders and cognitive impairment in adulthood.

And then there’s lung function. Popcorn lung, a slang term used to describe the narrowing of bronchial alveoli, is another potential side effect of vaping. Much of the e-juice used in flavor cartridges contains diacetyl, a chemical known to inflame and scar lung tissue.

As if possible nicotine addiction and lung impairment aren’t worrying enough, SVHS administrators are facing down an additional threat. E-liquids infused with Tetrahydrocannabinol – or THC, the ingredient in cannabis which produces a so-called “high” – are now commonly used by students in vapor pens.

“In my opinion, the legalization of marijuana does normalize (its use) for youth, though there’s no real way to measure that among our school community,” Gildengorin said. “We have predominantly found students using marijuana oil (in their devices).”

Tutorials on how to retrofit e-cigs to accommodate THC-infused oils are all over the internet and, for now, the kids remain a step ahead of the adults.

Sienna Guerrazzi - who attended Justin-Siena High School and graduated from U.C. Berkeley last June - was surprised by the conversation initiated by her physician on a recent visit.

“He asked about tobacco but not vaping or marijuana. It seemed odd to me because people my age are more likely to smoke marijuana or vape,” said Guerrazzi. “It worries me. There are risks to smoking anything, and I feel like that message is lost.”

Email Kate at kate.williams@sonomanews.com.

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