Vaping / E-Cigarettes/ Tobacco
The CDC, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), state and local health departments, and other clinical and public health partners are investigating a national outbreak of e-cigarette, or vaping, product use associated lung injury (EVALI).
Quick Facts About Vaping
- Many people use e-cigarettes and other vaping products to help quit smoking, but there is little evidence that using these products reliably help smokers quit, or reduce the amount that they smoke. The nicotine in vapes may even continue the addiction to nicotine.
- Research has shown that if someone vapes, they are more likely to start smoking cigarettes.
- Safer does not mean safe. Cigarettes are still the deadliest form of tobacco, but vaping is not safe either. There are several chemicals in vapes that are proven to have negative effects on your body. Also there is still nicotine in vaping products, which can make electronic cigarettes just as addictive as traditional cigarettes.
- E-cigarettes and other vaping devices have not been approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for being a cessation aid, and until recently, there were little to no standards set by the FDA for the manufacturers and distributors of e-cigarettes.
- There is no federal oversight over vaping devices, which makes it difficult to determine the real dangers of any specific vaping product. There are several different variations of products with different concentrations of ingredients
| Ingredients | What is it? | How it affects you and bystanders |
| Nicotine | The addictive part of e-cigarettes | Harmful cardiovascular effects; harmful to fetal lung & brain development; permanent effects on developing brains of children, teens, and young adults |
| Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) | Psychoactive mind-altering compound of marijuana that produces the “high” | Harms developing brains, increase blood pressure, anxiety |
| Cannabinoid (CBD) | Chemical in cannabis plant. Used to treat epilepsy, anxiety, Parkinsons as well as other conditions | Blood thinner, nausea, irritability, fatigue, when taken with prescription drugs it makes the prescription drugs less effective |
| Acrolein | A colorless liquid that is added to vapes as a filler and what also gives off vapor cloud | Increases risk of cardiovascular disease, cancer, emphysema |
| Metal and Silicate particles | Particles that come from the heating coils and end up in the vapor that is inhaled | Toxic to human cells; some metals higher in second hand aerosol than in secondhand tobacco smoke |
Additional Resources
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This is Quitting: a free program designed specifically for young adults to quit vaping or smoking. To enroll in this program, you can text DITCHJUUL to 88709. The first messages that you will get will ask for your age and which product(s) you use so they can individualize their services.
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My Life My Quit is another resource that has a number that you can call or text to talk to a coach for free to help quit vaping and tobacco usage. You can text Start My Quit to 855-891-9989 or call that number to get in touch with a coach.
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You can talk to a tobacco cessation counselor for free if you call 1-800-44U-QUIT or 1-800-QUIT-NOW. There is also a live chat online that is provided from the National Cancer Institute’s live help service which can be found at https://livehelp.cancer.gov/app/chat/chat_launch
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BecomeAnEX: a free, digital quit-smoking plan and online community of thousands of smokers and ex-smokers developed by Truth Initiative in collaboration with Mayo Clinic. It has helped more than 800,000 people develop the skills and confidence to successfully quit. Research has shown that following the BecomeAnEX quit plan quadruples a tobacco user’s chance of quitting. https://www.becomeanex.org/
- Mayo Clinic Nicotine Dependence Information
- American Lung Association’s Statement & Facts on E-cigarettes
- Tobacco Cancer Fact Sheet
- National Library of Medicine: Quitting Smoking
- Smoke Free.gov
