Vapes or e-cigarettes are one of the most popular ways of consuming substances such as nicotine, cannabis, or chemical flavouring among youth. This trend has spiked over the years due to marketing around it being “safer” than cigarettes. What we do know is that any use of vaping can cause harm.
There is still a lot more information needed but below is what we do know when addressing vaping among youth.
Educate Yourself and Others
You do not have to be an expert on the topic but it’s important to understand the basics and have access to knowledge on the facts and where to access supports and resources.
Educate Children and Youth
We want schools and natural supports to teach and implement lesson plans as soon as possible. At home we want to share the facts, have open conversations about safety, and support healthy choices. There are free lesson plans and information for different age ranges so you can have the conversations in ways that make sense to them!
Focus on Prevention
To help reduce rates of use among youth we need to implement effective prevention strategies that teach life skills, involves young people that are led by young people, and connect youth to the community. This helps strengthen core social competencies such as problem solving, decision making, and critical thinking.
Have open conversations about vaping with the young people in your life. This will help build relationships and trust so if there are questions, you are the person they will lean towards!
