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(CNN Spanish) - And yes, there is a new concern for parents: we introduce them to the hoodie and drawstring. This garment, a pillar of fashion among high school students, is now available as a vaping device, ready to offer a cloud of nicotine (or marijuana) anywhere, at any time, even within the class.
This product adds to the battalion of discrete, camouflaged devices, against which teachers and parents have to fight to monitor the use of a product that has increased its popularity among children of school age in the last two years, despite the laws valid in most states, where only its sale is allowed to people over 18 years. (In California, the age is 21.)
A computer mouse A cell phone case. Backpacks. USB drives The options of vaping kits that are advertised on the internet are many and very colorful.
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Juul, the San Francisco-based company that dominates the e-cigarette trade, and other manufacturers promote their devices as tools for adults seeking a solution to their nicotine addiction without the toxins associated with tobacco combustion. But the crowded market of devices and accessories that has emerged around vaping is full of products that seem designed for teenagers who want to keep their use secret. And, according to parents and teachers, they are almost impossible to keep out of reach of children.
Preliminary federal data published this month shows that more than a quarter of high school students in the country reported vaping in the last 30 days, compared to 11.7% in 2017.
While the habit expands dramatically among teenagers, adults have had difficulty reporting. In 2018, the Truth Initiative, a tobacco advocacy group, surveyed high school and high school teachers about vaping and discovered that less than half recognized a photo of a Juul, the most used device: a portable memory that charge through the computer, and that the uninitiated can easily confuse with a USB drive.
Sven-Eric Jordt has witnessed this challenge at his children's school. By day, Jordt is an associate professor at Duke University and studies the health effects of inhaling various chemicals. At night, educate your children about the potential risks of vaping.
Recently, one of his daughters told him about the “Apple-type” watch manufactured by Uwell, which is quickly becoming one of the most popular devices in his high school. With one touch, the clock display shows the time. When removed from the wrist, it is a vaping device.
This sweatshirt has the "vapeador" on the cord. "Vapers" can aspirate nicotine (or weed). KHN bought this product and a person was used as a model for the photo. (Credit: Anna Maria Barry-Jester / KHN)
"The teachers have learned to recognize a Juul," Jordt said, "but this only looks like a clock."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) continues to investigate a number of lung diseases related to vaping, which primarily affect young people. Authorities have reported 530 suspicious cases across the country, more than 70 of them in California. Seven of the cases, including two in California, have proved fatal.
It is not clear if a single device or agent is causing those diseases. According to the CDC, most patients have reported vaporizing cannabis, but some patients said they had used only nicotine or both. In California and other states at least some of the cases are related to vaping unregulated cannabis products. The outbreak has focused new attention on what federal officials now define as an epidemic of youth vaping.
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Two states, Michigan and New York, have acted to ban sales of most flavored electronic cigarette products, which are popular among young people. This month, President Donald Trump said he would launch a similar effort at the federal level.
In California, Governor Gavin Newsom said his administration would boost law enforcement efforts against illegal and counterfeit vaping products, and that he would fund a $ 20 million public service campaign to highlight the dangers of vaping.
While research on whether electronic cigarettes are an alternative to help people quit smoking continues, experts say there is clear evidence that teenagers should not vape. Nicotine can cause changes in the developing brain that increase the risk of addiction for life. Liquids in vaping devices contain a variety of chemicals that can damage the lungs.
Some schools have banned USB drives in an effort to keep vaping devices off campus. But new devices offer ways to dodge these bans.
When removed from the wrist, this “Apple-style” watch becomes a device for vaping. KHN bought this product and a person was used as a model for the photo. (Credit: Anna Maria Barry-Jester / KHN)
It is also likely that some of the devices are not legal. A decade ago, when vaping devices appeared on the market, it was not clear who had the authority to regulate them. Numerous court cases and subsequent regulatory changes fall within the scope of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are considered a tobacco product.
Depending on when they were available for sale, the devices generally fall into one of the three regulatory groups. Everything sold before February 15, 2007 is exempt from regulation. Products sold after that date, but before August 8, 2016, have until May 2020 to submit authorization applications to the FDA for marketing and can be sold in the meantime. Everything that was not marketed before August 8, 2016 needs FDA approval to be sold in the United States.
For example, the watch for vaping, which appears to have been available in July, would apparently require FDA authorization to be sold in the country. California Healthline was able to buy it online for $ 34.95.
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The FDA has sent warning letters to six companies about dozens of products sold without the required approval, and less severe notices to some others. All but a handful are related to the liquids used in vaping devices. The FDA did not respond to a request for comment on how it determines which products are a priority for the restriction.
The representatives of Uwell, which manufactures the watch to vape, did not respond to a request for comment.
The application of age restrictions varies and the FDA has sent dozens of warning letters to companies for selling products to minors. Websites adopt different approaches to age verification. California Healthline recently purchased several vaping devices, and the age verification process varied from a single click where the buyer certifies that they are at least 21 years old, to external software designed to verify the name, address and age at other bases. data.
Until recently, Amazon sold the components of products that allowed people to build their own “vapers” of marijuana. Some of these products have been linked to the current fatal outbreak. The internet market giant removed them after Minnesota Public Radio inquired about their sale.
In a statement, Tony Abboud, executive director of the Vapor Technology Association, one of the largest commercial groups in the industry, blamed some bad traders and illegal sales to ineligible customers, saying the group "does not approve youth use. of any nicotine products, including these accessories. ”
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In the absence of more aggressive federal efforts to keep these devices out of the market, parents and teachers must carry the impossible task of trying to keep them out of reach of children.
Ira Sachnoff has been a youth tobacco educator in the San Francisco Bay area for decades. He says that the growing popularity of capsule systems from the Juul era has made this new generation of nicotine products difficult to combat. “Schools are scared. They don't know what to do because young people are going crazy over these devices, ”he said.
Some schools are installing vaping detectors in the bathrooms. Others are sending students who vape for counseling. The most important first step for parents and school staff, Sachnoff said, is to learn what these devices look like.
With a group from Stanford University, Sachnoff created the tobacco prevention toolkit, a collection of resources widely used to prevent middle and high school students from using nicotine products. One section includes links for parents and guardians to become familiar with the devices and learn to talk with their children about nicotine.
But with the new and smaller devices that are appearing on the market, children motivated by vaping will have the advantage. That is why Sachnoff and other tobacco educators train counselors and the same students who can talk about the risks. They hope to convince young people that, like cigarettes, which have fallen out of favor in recent years, vaping is not good and not worth it.
"I've been doing this for a long time," said Sachnoff, "and after 25 years we won't allow it to happen again."
Addictions vaping