Beyond Vaping: New Nicotine Products And Teens

Teens increasingly are turning to nicotine-loaded gum, lozenges and gummies for a quick rush, a groundbreaking study warns.

Tobacco-free oral nicotine products were the second-most commonly used nicotine or tobacco items among more than 3,500 ninth- and tenth-graders surveyed last fall, researchers reported Aug. 8 in the journal Pediatrics.

About 3.4% of respondents said they'd tried the flavored nicotine products. E-cigarettes were the most popular, with 9.6% reporting that they'd vaped.

All other products, including tobacco cigarettes, had been used by fewer than 1% of teens polled.

Vaping First, What Next?

An e-cigarette is a tobacco-free mixture of nicotine and other chemicals heated up into a vapor that’s inhaled. Smoking an e-cigarette is called vaping because the steam vapor replaces the smoke of regular cigarettes. Originally billed as a smoking cessation tool, e-cigarettes – such as JUUL, the most common one – have rapidly become popular among teens.

The surgeon general has declared underage e-cigarette use an epidemic that’s hooking a new generation on nicotine.

“In Indiana, there has been a 387% increase in e-cigarette use by youth from 2012 to 2018,” says Irene Boone Phillips, program coordinator for Lake County Community Tobacco Prevention & Cessation Coalition. “That translates into 35,000 more kids who have started vaping here in the last couple of years.”

Even though e-cigarettes don’t have as many chemicals as tobacco ones, they still contain harmful substances. Recently, nearly 200 vaping-related cases of severe lung illness have been reported and are being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention – a move that’s fueling action to ban flavored e-cigarettes entirely.

“When you have an unknown combination of chemicals mixed with metals and heated, the potential for harm is unlimited,” says Phillips. “Because we don’t know what’s in e-cigarettes, we don’t know the full extent of the danger."

Nicotine Pouches And Other Smoke-Free Products

Now that a crackdown on e-cigarettes seems imminent, tobacco companies have released new, unregulated products to the market. These include chewable candies and pouches that contain nicotine powder and come in flavors like mint, coffee, cinnamon, berry and cream. Sounds so innocent, right?

While they are marketed as a safer alternative to combustible tobacco, Phillips argues that these new products are still dangerous. “If you don’t know what exactly you’re putting into your body, how could that be safe? We should all be concerned about that.”

Dissolvable products may also be especially attractive to underage users, says Phillips. These candies and powders don’t emit smoke, vapor or anything that can be detected. You just put them in your mouth, and no one knows it’s there.

The products resemble gum, candy or gummies, and are sold in flavors like "cherry bomb," "blue raz," "fruit medley" and "pomegranate," researchers noted. Their flashy packaging distinguishes them from traditional nicotine replacement therapy products, researchers noted.

Nicotine Health Effects

Nicotine is highly addictive. People who become dependent on e-cigarettes and other nicotine products experience withdrawal symptoms, including:

• Irritability
• Depression
• Anxiety
• Difficulty focusing
• Sleep problems

Nicotine also makes your heart beat faster and narrows arteries, which increases blood pressure – a major risk factor for heart disease and heart attacks. 

Exposure to nicotine can interfere with healthy brain development among teens, worsen mood disorders and mental health problems, and affect their ability to learn and pay attention. It changes brain chemistry and can have long-lasting effects on their ability to reason. 

It also puts them at increased risk of addiction to other substances, as well as other products containing nicotine, they said.

About 44% of teens who had smoked and vaped had tried these products, as had 27% of smokers and 22% of vapers, results show. Overall, smokers were 77 times more likely to have tried them and vapers were 40 times more likely than teens who had never used tobacco products.

Talking To Teens About Vaping And Nicotine Use

Talk early and often.

“It’s never too soon to talk to children about vaping and substance abuse,” says Phillips.

An easy way to start a conversation is to point out vaping or vaping ads and ask your kids if they’ve seen people do that at school or parties.

If you find out your child or teen is using nicotine products, avoid judgment. It’s not their fault, says Laura Arent, coordinator with Franciscan Health’s cessation programs. “Children aren’t trying to get addicted. These products are marketed towards kids. Of course they want to try Cap’n Crunch®, mango and gummy bear flavors. Nicotine is an addictive drug, and these products are designed to hook people.”

Help your child break the addiction. Ask your teen’s doctor to recommend a smoking or tobacco cessation program, or learn more about the tobacco cessation programs at Franciscan Health.