Dangers of E-Cigarettes, Vaping and JUULs
Tobacco Prevention
Despite enormous progress in reducing tobacco use, it remains the most common preventable cause of death and disease in the United States. Each year, about 480,000 Americans die from tobacco-related illnesses. Currently, more than 16 million Americans suffer from at least one disease caused by smoking.
Smoking-related illness in the United States costs more than $300 billion each year, including nearly $170 billion for direct medical care for adults and more than $156 billion in lost productivity.
Nearly 95% of daily adult smokers begin smoking before age 21. Our prevention audiences are stratified by age, starting with youth and young adults. We use evidence-based strategies to counteract the overwhelming advertising aimed at children, young adults and adults.
E-Cigarettes and Youth
Below are resources for educators and others working with youth. (Updated: October 24, 2019)
CDC Office on Smoking and Health (CDC/OSH) E-Cigarettes Resources. The CDC e-cigarettes landing page has a variety of materials and resources, and is a one-stop shop for evidence-based messages about e-cigarettes:
- A webpage with general information about e-cigarettes.
- A webpage with information specific to e-cigarettes and young people, with links to infographics, fact sheets, an e-cigarettes and youth toolkit for partners, and a new OSH presentation to educate youth on e-cigarettes. (Please note: these materials don’t include information on the e-cigarettes lung-injury outbreak.)
- CDC/OSH and the Tobacco Control Network (TCN) collaborated to produce a pair of youth e-cigarette use microlearning videos. The videos, a long form and a short form, feature introductory remarks from TCN Chair Luci Longoria before a comprehensive overview on the prevalence and risks of youth e-cigarette use from Dr. Brian King, Deputy Director for Research Translation with OSH. Both videos present the same content in different levels of detail, and are appropriate to share with school administrators, nurses, teachers, ad other school-based stakeholders to ensure that all young people can learn in an environment from e-cigarette use.
CDC Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with E-Cigarette Use, or Vaping Information and Resources. See this webpage for information specific to the outbreak of lung-injury associated with e-cigarette use, or vaping, including information for the general public, and a healthcare provider webpage with information relevant to school health staff, including a poster, available in English and Spanish, suitable for placement in school health clinics and school nurse offices.
School-Based E-Cigarettes Prevention Curriculum. While CDC/OSH doesn't endorse programs or curricula, in addition to the OSH presentation mentioned above, there are several noteworthy evidence-based youth e-cigarette prevention curricula and materials:
- FDA Center for Tobacco Products lesson plan and activity The Real Costs of Vaping: Understanding the Dangers of Teen E-Cigarette Use, developed in collaboration with Scholastic.
- The Stanford Medical School Tobacco Prevention Toolkit module on E-Cigs/Vapes and Pods
- The American Lung Association INDEPTH™: Intervention for Nicotine Dependence: Education, Prevention, Tobacco and Health offers an alternative to suspension or citation for infractions of school tobacco-free policies.
E-Cigarettes Cessation Resources for Youth
- The Truth Initiative launched a youth/young-adult focused E-cigarette Quit Program. Youth and young adults can access the e-cigarette quit program by texting "DITCHJUUL" to 88709. Parents and other adults looking to help young people quit should text "QUIT" to 202-899-7550.
- The National Cancer Institute’s SmokefreeTeen website includes information on How To Quit Vaping.
Youth-Facing E-Cigarette Prevention Ads
The FDA Center for Tobacco Products is running a national e-cigarettes prevention campaign to reach youth. The press release, FDA launches its first youth e-cigarette prevention TV ads, plans new educational resources as agency approaches one-year anniversary of public education campaign, describes the campaign as well as resources (e.g., posters, lessons plans) that FDA has distributed or plans to distribute to public and private middle and high schools nationwide. A variety of the FDA’s youth e-cigarette prevention materials, including print materials and social media content, are available for download on the Center for Tobacco Products Exchange Lab, including:
- “Chemicals in Vaping” posters. These five posters – focused on chromium, lead, nickel, and nicotine – help educate youth about the potential dangers of e-cigarette use.
- 11 short vaping videos, designed to educate youth that vapes can contain chemicals that could be harmful to the body, are available for download to share on Instagram and Facebook.
The Truth Initiative is offering truth®-branded video content focused on flavored e-cigarettes. The content has been created specifically for youth-serving partners and stakeholders. The video "Sweet Clouds" highlights the fact that 81% of youth who have ever used e-cigarettes started with flavors.
Truth Initiative is also offering truth content that spreads awareness of the facts and dangers associated with flavored and menthol tobacco products. "Burn Through" focuses on how Big Tobacco uses fruit flavors to disguise the 3,000 other dangerous chemical in their products. Also available are "Making Menthol Black", a hard-hitting expose of the tactics Big Tobacco used to target African Americans for decades, and "Power in Numbers," an exploration of the disturbing trends and numbers behind menthol use in America.
The videos are available in 30-, 15- and 10-second length versions plus scripted social media posts, gifs and still images. They are available free of charge (any/all media fees to be covered by partners) and can be run online (and some on TV) as well as on closed circuit tv systems on college campuses. All assets are available without any tagging/co-branding or any modifications. The use of the truth content will be vetted by and at the discretion of Truth Initiative. For further information, contact ad.inquiries@truthinitiative.org.
CDC/Surgeon General Public Service Announcements for Adult Influencers. Adult-facing public service announcements (PSAs) from CDC/OSH and the U.S. Surgeon General are available for free through the CDC Media Campaign Resource Center. These PSAs are not designed for youth; they are appropriate for use with adult audiences, to raise their awareness about the health risks associated with e-cigarettes and youth:
- One Brain Radio PSA
- It's Not Like You Can Buy A New Brain (Vending Machine) Print ad
- It's a Fact Radio PSA
- Any Volunteers? Video PSA
- E-Cigarettes Risky for Youth digital and social media images
- E-Cigarettes, Nicotine, and Brain Development social media image
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