Dr. Thomas Dobbs, the Mississippi state health officer, wants more residents to be aware of what he calls the “eminent public health threat created by the explosion of childhood vaping.”
While believed to be less harmful than tobacco products, Dobbs wrote that vaping “releases many chemicals with known toxicities.” Long-term effects are not known, but early research “shows a strong association with vaping and cardiovascular disease.”
Unfortunately, vaping has caught on with the younger crowd: More than 28% of high school students and 12% in middle school smoke regularly.
While vaping omits tobacco, it does not omit nicotine, and that’s Dobbs’ biggest concern.
He wrote that nicotine is one of the most addictive substances known to man, one that can seriously affect the reasoning and cognitive functions that are still developing in teenagers.
He has four proposals to help curb vaping usage.
• Tax vaping products at the same rate as tobacco products. That means a big price hike.
• Pass a state law forbidding the sale of all nicotine products to those less than 21. A federal law does this, but a state law would give Mississippi officers enforcement powers.
• Register businesses that sell nicotine and hold them accountable for sales to minors.
• Make sure the penalty for illegal sales is strong enough to discourage breaking the law.
His proposals are a start.
If adults want to vape, have at it. But when it’s a battle between commerce and the health of children, there should be no doubt.
— The (McComb) Enterprise-Journal
