Dr. Brian King, Deputy Director for Research Translation in the Office on Smoking and Health within the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion at the National Center for Disease Control and Prevention spoke to the 4th Annual Tobacco Free Chattanooga Clear the Air Conference at Orchard Knob Baptist on May 8, 2016. From cigars and chewing tobacco to cigarettes and new electronic devices, the landscape of tobacco products continues to evolve. And with that, so must our public health prevention strategies, according to expert Brian King.
“E-cigarettes weren’t the first and they won’t be the last, because there’s money to be made,” said King, a leader at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Office on Smoking and Health.
King shared some of the CDC’s alarming data on youth e-cigarette use and disparities in smoking rates – as well as some highlights in reducing traditional cigarette smoking – on Wednesday at the 4th Annual Tobacco Free Chattanooga Clear the Air Conference at Orchard Knob Baptist Church.
While the percent of high schoolers in the United States who smoke cigarettes declined from 15.8% in 2011 to 8.1% in 2018, e-cigarette use among high school students skyrocketed from 1.5% to 20.8% over that same time period.
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The conference also honored local efforts to reduce tobacco use, which included “Cleared the Air” awards in recognition of policy changes in working toward a smokefree community and improving the health of Chattanooga residents:- Erlanger Behavioral Health Hospital, smoke-free campus policy- University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, smoke-free campus policy- CADAS Sober Living Apartments, smoke-free housing policy- Maple Hills, smoke-free housing policy- Overlook Apartments, smoke-free housing policyHall of Fame Awards in recognition of significant work toward a smokefree community- Boys To MenSignificant work with youth tobacco education and advocacy- CHI Memorial Social Work StaffSignificant work in providing community cessation classes and promoting smoke-free lives- Chattanooga Housing Authority Social Work StaffSignificant work in providing community cessation classes and promoting smoke-free lives- Hamilton County CommissionSignificant work in supporting statewide smoke-free legislation- Hixson High SchoolSignificant work with youth tobacco education and advocacy- Kelley ObringerSignificant work in partnering to provide UTC nursing students with clinical experience in tobacco prevention and education- Patten TowersSignificant work in providing an onsite cessation class and promoting smoke-free lives
“We’ve gone back and collected data on substances among kids for 40 years, and this was the single highest year-over-year increase that we’ve ever seen for any substance ever, and that includes cigarettes and marijuana,” King said.
The primary culprit, he said, is the e-cigarette brand Juul, which resembles a USB device. Juul dominates the current market in the United States and is favored by teens for its sleek look and flavor variety. In addition, what sets it apart from other e-cigarette brands is Juul’s patented “nicotine salts,” which are more potent and addictive than other tobacco devices on the market.
These factors have created an “unprecedented” substance use epidemic among our nation’s youth, King said.
Detective Terry Topping from the Chattanooga Police Department, who spoke after King, said he believes the number of kids using e-cigarettes in Hamilton County schools is even higher than the CDC’s figures.
“I saw no cigarette smoking in the school for years,” Topping said. “Once the Juuls hit the market the multitude of kids that are smoking Juuls are rampant the numbers must be much higher than that.”
King warned of an even newer product – Suorin Drop – that’s shaped like a teardrop and is growing in popularity on the West Coast. It can contain either tobacco or marijuana, and he expects it to reach the Southeast sooner rather than later.
Despite the grim statistics around youth nicotine initiation, significantly lower rates of traditional smoking in adults and children are something to celebrate, he said. Although that success is not equal across all populations.
“We’re dancing in the streets over overall declines, but when you start separating things out by population groups, particularly vulnerable populations, you don’t necessarily see those same trends,” King said. “If we want to make an impact, we can’t leave people behind.”