The “My Life, My Quit” tobacco and vaping cessation program has been launched for youth under the age of 18. Teens in the nine states will be able to call or text the helpline at 1-855-891-9989 or go online to mylifemyquit.com. Those seeking assistance will be then be redirected to a trained youth coach, who can provide free and confidential live counseling sessions.
“We launched a specific teen quitline which reflects that teens want to make their own decisions,” said Thomas Ylioja, clinical director of health initiatives programs at National Jewish Health, a hospital in Denver, which has launched the program last Monday. “They don’t want to be told to quit … the decision to stop is theirs, and we’re here to support them.”
The nine states that currently have the My Life, My Quit program were involved with its initial development, but the “hope is to be able to offer to additional states in the near future,” according to Ylioja.
High Nicotine E-Cigs Blamed for Teen Vaping
Clearly referring to Juul, in a recent interview the U.S. Surgeon General said that latest e-cig models containing higher levels of nicotine, are to blame for the rising tobacco use among young people.
In the UK vaping is uncommon amongst non-smoking teens. “A large majority of never smokers aged 11-18, 93.8% in total, have either never used an e-cigarette (87.8%) or are unaware of them (6.0%).”
“We’ve seen tobacco use among youth go down over the last decade, it’s now starting to go back up because of e-cigarettes,” said Dr. Jerome Adams. “It’s a fundamentally different product we have compared to the e-cigarettes of old,” he said.
Adams said that the fact that modern devices contain more nicotine is problematic. “It delivers much more nicotine, and we’re hearing from high school principals and from parents that kids out there now are becoming, rapidly becoming addicted to these products, so I’m worried the numbers are going to get worse this year.”
Meanwhile, a recent review of research related to NRTs, has indicated that smokers who use higher doses of nicotine are more likely to quit than those using lower doses. The review also found that some smokers may benefit from using two forms of NRT rather than one.
UK Report Indicates Low Teen Vaping Rates
Meanwhile, contrary to the alleged alarming US figures reported by the US FDA, a report from the UK’s Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has indicated that the proportion of under 18s who try vaping has dropped to the lowest level since 2016. The following were the key findings:
“-More than three quarters of 11-18 year olds have never tried (76.9%) or are unaware of e-cigarettes (6.6%).
-Young people vape mainly just to give it a try (52.4%) not because they think it looks cool (1.0%).
-In 2019 15.4% of 11-18 year olds had tried vaping, compared to 16.0% in 2018. This is an increase from 2015 when 12.7% of 11-18 year olds had tried e-cigarettes.
-In 2019, 1.6% of 11-18 year olds used e-cigarettes more than once a week (1.7% in 2018) compared to 0.5% in 2015.
-Vaping is much less common among young people who have never smoked. A large majority of never smokers aged 11-18, 93.8% in total, have either never used an e-cigarette (87.8%) or are unaware of them (6.0%). Of young people aged 11-18 years old who have never smoked, 5.5% have ever tried e-cigarettes, 0.8% are current vapers, only 0.1% vape more than once a week, and not a single never smoker reported vaping daily.
-Children under 16 are less likely to try e-cigarettes than 16-18 year olds. 8.5% of 11-15 year olds have tried vaping, compared to 26.7% of 16-18 year olds.”
Read Further: CNN
