The future of smoking is here, and it comes in a variety of different flavors. ‘Vaping,’ as it’s often called, is the new way to smoke without the smell or taste of a regular cigarette.
It’s so pervasive in our culture that the Oxford English Dictionary named ‘vape’ its Word of the Year for 2014. But it’s also a big concern for parents and anti-smoking advocates, who say kids are jumping on board because e-cigarettes come in fruity, sweet flavors and colorful packaging.
The CDC says e-cigarette use among middle and high school students is up since 2011 and that regular cigarette smoking in the same groups is down. However, what stats show and what the conversations kids have at their lockers or in schoolyards are often drastically different
Is vaping really all the rage these days? How much do kids really know about vaping and e-cigarettes? What are they hearing from friends? From teachers? Parents, how do you talk to your kids about vaping? Is it part of the conversation about smoking or is it its own entity?
Guest:
Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Ph.D., research professor of pediatrics (focusing on adolescent medicine) at Stanford University’s School of Medicine. Her research has focused on cognitive and psychosocial factors involved in adolescents’ and young adults’ health-related decision-making.