Youth Vaping

Prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products A comprehensive prohibition on the sale or all flavored tobacco products provides a significant public health benefit which counters the tobacco industry’s marketing tactics and reduce tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations.

A comprehensive model policy should involve all tobacco, nicotine and e-cigarette products (including e-liquids). This policy should also prohibit menthol and mint.
Delay (e.g., 6 months) between bill passed and the effective date, providing tobacco retailers time to sell their existing inventory of flavored tobacco and providing government time to plan for implementation and enforcement.
Do not prohibit or penalize the purchase, use, or possession of flavored tobacco products. Only tobacco retailers who sell flavored tobacco products should be subject to penalty.

Support community-based education by prohibiting the sale of tobacco/nicotine flavored products includina menthol. Menthal cigarettes and other flavored tobacco products pose a significant threat to health especially for populations targeted by the tobacco industry, such as youth, low-income, LGBTQ and communities of color. These groups disproportionately bear the burden of tobacco-related harms.

Limit youth access to flavored tobacco products through tobacco retailers Initial evidence shows a reduction in youth tobacco use in communities that have enacted laws restricting the sale of flavored tobacco. With retailer violation rates upwards of 30%, the Nevada legislature needs to regulate this kid-friendly market.

E-cigarettes are latest example of how
the tobacco industry targets youth

E-cigarettes and other vaping devices are a category of Other Tobacco Products (OTPs) that have made tobacco and nicotine accessible to a whole new set of consumers and made such products more accessible than the more regulated and taxed traditional cigarettes.

E-cigarette and vape manufacturers often claim these products help with smoking cessation, but this class of OTPs are not FDA-approved cessation aids. There is little scientific evidence that shows they help smokers successfully quit smoking. Instead, there is evidence that they are highly addictive, just like cigarettes.

Evidence shows that using e-cigarettes and vaping products can result in health problems of their own. Moreover, dual use of cigarettes and OTPs is increasing, which may diminish any potential benefits of cutting back on traditional cigarettes.

ELECTRONIC CIGARETTES
& VAPOR PRODUCTS

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) (also known as e-cigs, mods, vape pens, vapes, tank systems, or electronic nicotine delivery systems) are nicotine-delivery devices that produce an aerosol by heating a liquid (usually containing nicotine) that users breathe into their lungs. E-cigarettes come in many shapes and sizes. Most have a battery, a heating element, and a place to hold the liquid.

Some e-cigarettes look like regular cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. Some look like USB flash drives, pens, and other everyday items. Larger devices such as tank systems, or “mods,” do not look like other tobacco products.

E-cigarettes and vape pens are the latest examples of how the tobacco industry targets youth to gain replacement smokers through developing and marketing new products. E-cigs are attractive to teens because of enticing flavors, cheap prices, easy purchase access, and ease of concealment. The nicotine delivered by these products, much like traditional cigarettes, creates addiction. In 2018, the US Surgeon General urged the country to immediately address the epidemic of youth e-cigarette use.

In 2019, 43.7% of Nevada high school students admitted having used e-cigarettes. And the number of students using e-cigarettes has increased in the last few years, with Nevada middle school students admitting to using e-cigarettes and vapes in the past 30 days increasing from 6.7% in 2017 to 12.0% in 2019 (UNR, 2020).

Senate Bill 263 (SB263), passed in the 2019 Nevada Legislative session, helps to fund statewide and local efforts to address the increasing rates of youth e-cigarette use and nicotine addiction.

NTCSC has worked to protect youth from nicotine addiction by:

Helping to shape laws in Nevada to add use of e-cigarettes to the Nevada Clean Indoor Air Act (NCIAA).
Assisting with instituting restrictions on age of purchase of e-cigarettes and implementing taxes on e-cigarettes. Youth use decreases when price increases.
Educating youth, parents and other adults statewide about dangers of e-cigarettes and how youth can get help quitting.

Other Tobacco Products

For more information on OTPs, visit one of NTCSC’s member organizations: Southern Nevada Health District Other Tobacco Products.

Sources: CDC, World Health Organization; US Surgeon General’s Report; University of Nevada, Reno

Flavors & Marketing Make E-cigarettes Appealing to Youth

Many e-cigarettes come in various flavors, including fruit, candy, mint, and menthol. The vast majority of youth use flavored e-cigarettes, and studies have shown that flavors are the main attraction to start and continue using vapor products.

84.7%

Most youth who reported using e-cigarettes
used flavored varieties, According to the 2021
National Youth Tobacco Survey

Among middle and high school students who currently used any type of flavored e-cigarette in 2021, the most commonly used flavors were fruit (71.6%), candy, desserts, or other sweets (34.1%), mint (30.2%), and menthol (28.8%).

On January 2, 2020, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized an enforcement policy that prohibits the sale of prefilled cartridge e-cigarettes in any flavor other than tobacco or menthol, unless authorized by FDA. The FDA and Congress have since taken additional steps to prohibit certain companies from selling youth-appealing, flavored disposable e-cigarettes and flavored e-liquids without authorization, including those containing synthetic nicotine.

Additionally, several states and communities have restricted the sale of flavored tobacco products, including menthol-flavored products, in their communities. Nevada has yet to do this.

E-cigarettes are also advertised using the same themes and tactics that have been shown to increase youth initiation of other tobacco products, including cigarettes.

In 2016, about 7 in 10 middle school and high school students (69.3%)—more than 18 million youth—said they had seen e-cigarette advertising. Widespread advertising for e-cigarettes, including product placement and via media for which advertising for conventional tobacco products is prohibited (e.g., TV), and the lower costs of some e-cigarettes relative to regular cigarettes has contributed to use among youth.

Source: CDC

Synthetic Nicotine

A new wave of synthetic nicotine products is emerging on the market, raising regulatory questions and health concerns as youth vaping continues at epidemic levels.

The disposable e-cigarette Puff Bar and oral nicotine products Bidi Pouches, NIIN and Rush are a few of these new products marketing synthetic nicotine, or nicotine that was created in a laboratory and not derived from tobacco. These new products, which have not been through the required regulatory review and approval processes, also come in flavors that are proven to attract youth.

While it is too early to know whether the health effects of synthetic nicotine are different from those of tobacco-derived nicotine, we do know that these products threaten to addict more young people.

These products have raised questions about whether they should be regulated as tobacco products or drugs, and some companies have proceeded as if they are exempted from FDA regulation altogether.

In March 2022, Congress granted the FDA the authority to regulate synthetic nicotine products under their tobacco regulatory authority.

Educating Nevada’s teens on the
dangers of vaping & e-cigarettes

NTCSC and its partners spearhead a number of public education campaigns to educate teens and adults about the dangers of vaping and to unveil the unethical tactics of the vaping industry. Through this campaign messaging, and with statewide partnerships and collaborations, the NTCSC’s goal is to reduce the overall prevalence of youth vaping in Nevada.

The 2019 legislative session passed Senate Bill 263 (SB263) requiring vapor products and alternative nicotine products to be taxed and regulated as other tobacco products (including a 30% tax of wholesale price) and established penalties for selling to minors, including internet sales.

The Nevada Youth Anti-Vaping Campaign, a result of a $2.5 million appropriation, was launched in July 2020 to prevent initiation of tobacco use (including emerging products and e-cigarettes) among youth and young adults. This statewide campaign has developed best-practice and evidence-based media messaging to decrease youth initiation and use of e-cigarettes.

The Problem

Youth vaping has skyrocketed in Nevada. There has been a more than 45% increase (between 2017-2019) in teens reporting they have vaped in the last thirty days. In certain parts of Nevada, the vaping prevalence rates are above 36%. Vapes are designed to appeal to children and teens and are widely available to youth through family, friends, social media, internet sales, and lax vape shop regulations. Peers, role models, and influencers have normalized vaping.

Why It Matters

Teens in Nevada are risking their current and future health by vaping because they do not fully understand the risks of vaping and nicotine addiction.

Adults are concerned about teen vaping too. Parents, educators, health officials, leaders, teen mentors, and other adults who influence teens need additional help. They need someone to educate them on why vaping is harmful for teens and provide them with the resources to help their teens who are vaping.

What Are We Doing About IT

To reduce teen vaping in Nevada, the Nevada Tobacco Control & Smoke-free Coalition (NTCSC) has developed two campaigns that reach teens and parents/adult influencers of teens, across the state of Nevada. The goal of these campaigns is to decrease youth initiation and use of e-cigarettes to achieve a tangible reduction in vaping rates across the state, addressing southern, rural, and northern Nevada, through data-driven and evidence-based campaigns developed to fight the vaping epidemic.

In early 2020, campaign researchers assessed more than 320 teens in northern, rural, and southern Nevada. These interviews were specific to messages on vaping prevention and awareness to preferences in ad style, tone, characters, settings, and message framing. Creative concepts were developed utilizing these assessments, as well as agency insight and concepts from NTCSC. The team then conducted a total of 24 one-on-one phone interviews to evaluate vaping trends and receptiveness to vape messaging. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected to help cement the campaign strategy that is now Behind the Haze NV and Let’s Talk Vaping.

Contact your Nevada Senate Legislator and Contact your Nevada Assembly Legislator to let them know you support funding Nevada’s Youth Anti-Vaping campaign.

If you’re a teenager looking to quit smoking

My Life, My Quit

The My Life, My Quit program is a free and confidential service developed for teens who want help quitting all forms of tobacco including vaping.

Text (or call) “Start My Quit” to 855-891-9989 or enroll online at

ENROLL NOW

Hours of operation: 7 days a week; 4 a.m. to 10 p.m. Pacific Time

This is Quitting

This is Quitting is a free and anonymous text messaging program designed to help young people quit vaping. The first-of-its-kind program incorporates messages from other young people like them who have attempted to, or successfully quit, using e-cigarettes, This is Quitting has helped over 400,000 youth and young adults on their journey to quit vaping.

Teens and young adults (13 to 24 years old) can join for free by texting DITCHVAPE to 88709.

quitSTART App

The quitSTART app is a free app that helps you quit smoking with tailored tips, inspiration, and challenges.

DOWNLOAD APP

Smokefree Teen

Smokefree Teen helps you plan your quit so that you can follow through. Quitting vaping can be easier when you have a plan. Find out what steps you can take to get ready to quit vaping.

Teens aged 13-17, text QUIT to 47848 to get started.

LEARN MORE