U.S. Surgeon General Says Youth Vaping Is a 'Major Public Health Concern'

The U.S. surgeon general Vivek Murthy has referred to youth vaping as a "major public health concern."

View this video on YouTube

youtu.be

The U.S. Surgeon General says teenagers and their vaping habits are a public health threat, the Associated Press reports. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said in a report released Thursday that more research into the potential harms of e-cigarettes is needed, but that vaping is not safe.

Murthy told the Associated Press ahead of Thursday's report that the concern is that vaping could be a gateway to using nicotine products later in life. "My concern is e-cigarettes have the potential to create a whole new generation of kids who are addicted to nicotine," Murthy said. "If that leads to the use of other tobacco-related products, then we are going to be moving backward instead of forward."

The Associated Press reported in August that most who teens who use e-cigarettes opt for fruity vape flavors in lieu of nicotine (which, let's face it, doesn't actually taste good). The same study that found teens vape with fruit flavors also found that cigarette smoking is down among teenagers and is now less popular than vaping among teens.

 

Despite these recent findings, Murthy remains concerned. ">We know enough right now to say that youth and young adults should not be using e-cigarettes or any other tobacco product, for that matter," Murthy told the Washington Post. "The key bottom line here is that the science tells us the use of nicotine-containing products by youth, including e-cigarettes, is unsafe."

While there's still not enough research about vaping as of now, it's probably best to heed the Surgeon General's warnings for the time being and just say no to vaping.

Latest in Life