By WHITNEE ICE
St. Joseph Post
The use of e-cigarettes is on the rise in teens and young adults according to the St. Joseph Youth Alliance.
Youth Alliance Spokeswomen Angela Reynolds says the community is expressing concerns about vaping and the long-term effects vaping will have on users.
“A lot of people don’t realize that most of the vaping products that people are using do contain nicotine, so obviously you have all of the risk factors that you would have with basic cigarettes,” Reynolds tells St. Joseph Post.
Reynolds says e-cigarettes target a specific audience.
“They look like jump drives. They are very pretty. They come in colorful designs and they are marketing really towards kids with a lot of their flavoring that they’re having like strawberry, bubble gum, things like that,” says Reynolds.
Reynolds says using e-cigarettes at a young age makes you more susceptible to long term use.
“There’s also some correlation between kids that are vaping and then developing in the future to long-term actual cigarette use,” says Reynolds.
Reynolds says Nicotine can impact a young person’s brain development. It can hurt their learning, mood, impulse control, attention span, and memory. She adds, nicotine can actually change the brain chemistry and making young people more susceptible to addiction.