Verified by 
A new study from Stanford University Medical Center reports that adolescents commonly have a misconception that smoking cannabis or vaping e-cigarettes is harmless.
Electronic cigarettes (also called e-cigarettes) are designed to deliver nicotine with flavorings and other chemicals using a battery-operated mechanism that turns the chemical concoction into a vapor instead of smoke. Taking a puff of an e-cigarette activates a heating device, which vaporizes the liquid in the cartridge, which is then inhaled. Smoking an e-cigarette is called vaping.
Adolescents get a strong message that smoking traditional cigarettes is addictive and harmful. However, most teens are unclear about the health risks of vaping and smoking marijuana. In fact, many teenagers presume that cannabis and e-cigarettes are actually a 'beneficial' habit based on misperceptions of their risks.
The June 2015 study, “Adolescents' Perceptions of Risks and Benefits of Conventional Cigarettes, E-cigarettes, and Marijuana: A Qualitative Analysis” was published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
In a press release, the study's lead author, Maria Roditis, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scholar in adolescent medicine said, "Kids were really good at describing the harmful things that happen with cigarette smoking, but when we asked about other products, there was a lot of confusion.”
"We're good at delivering messaging that cigarettes are harmful, but we need to do a better job with other products that teens may smoke," added Bonnie Halpern-Felsher, Ph.D., professor of pediatrics in adolescent medicine and the study's senior author. "We don't want the message kids get to be 'cigarettes are bad, so everything else might be OK.'"
For the study, Halpern-Felsher and Roditis engaged adolescent students in small group discussions about their perceptions of the risks and benefits of conventional cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and marijuana. They also discussed what teens had learned or perceived from teachers, parents, and their peers about these products. The teens all perceived from the media, families, and teachers clear warnings about the risks of conventional cigarettes.
Most students perceived little or no benefit—as well as several detrimental side effects—to smoking conventional cigarettes. These included stained teeth, bad breath, and long-term disease risk. Teens also said that social norms and peer pressure were biased against smoking conventional cigarettes. Interestingly, even smoking marijuana with rolling papers was viewed as less socially acceptable because a joint looks like a conventional cigarette.
Although many students acknowledged messaging from various sources discouraging the use of marijuana, many teens said it was difficult to refuse cannabis because use of the drug was so prevalent among their peers.
Halpern-Felsher and Roditis found that students viewed getting high as a benefit to smoking marijuana, and perceived cannabis as being safer and less addictive than tobacco. The adolescents were unsure whether marijuana posed health risks, and commonly described being under peer pressure to smoke marijuana.
When I was discussing the new Stanford study with a teenager yesterday, she said that most of her friends think of marijuana as being "healthy" and that cannabis use was ubiquitous among her peers. Is it possible that the legitimate use of medical marijuana and the legalization of cannabis in many states has created a misconception among teens that cannabis is not only harmless but may, in fact, be good for you?
Vaping Is a Potential Public Health Crisis
With respect to e-cigarettes, students in the Stanford study commonly perceived some benefits to vaping. Many adolescents thought that e-cigarettes "looked good" and most were unsure of any e-cigarette health risks.
E-cigarettes are not regulated by the FDA. In addition, there's currently no regulation of the liquids used in e-cigarettes. It's important for consumers to realize that there are currently no accepted standards or measures to confirm the purity or safety of e-cigarettes.
The vapors from some e-cigarette products have been found to contain known carcinogens and toxic chemicals (such as formaldehyde and acetaldehyde), as well as potentially toxic metal nanoparticles from the vaporizing mechanism. More research is needed to determine the full consequences of vaping the chemicals in e-cigarettes. In addition to the unknown health risks of e-cigarettes, vaping may serve as a "gateway" or introductory marketing tool to get teens hooked on nicotine.
A recent study from the Centers for Disease Control shows that middle- and high-school students' use of e-cigarettes tripled from 2013 to 2014. Although teenagers are smoking fewer conventional cigarettes, the rates of marijuana and e-cigarette use are on the rise. Vaping is currently the most popular nicotine delivery method used by adolescents.
“We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age, whether it’s an e-cigarette, hookah, cigarette or cigar,” according to CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Adolescence is a critical time for brain development. Nicotine exposure at a young age may cause lasting harm to brain development, promote addiction, and lead to sustained tobacco use.”
In June of 2015, Hawaii became the first state in the US to raise the smoking age to 21. The new tobacco law was passed amid growing concerns about the prevalence of e-cigarettes. The legislators in Hawaii noted that a poll of six of its high schools found that 25 percent of 9th and 10th grade students had used an electronic smoking device at least once and 18 percent used e-cigarettes regularly.
Conclusion: The Risks of Vaping and Smoking Marijuana Need a Groundswell
Halpern-Felsher and Roditis conclude that anti-smoking efforts need to address more than just conventional cigarettes and include informed discussions and public health messages about the potential risks of smoking cannabis or vaping.
Adolescents need to be educated about the addictive potential of cannabis and e-cigarettes, as well as the risks of smoking any form of chemical or plant matter. "Students hear a lot of talk about conventional cigarettes, some about marijuana and very little about e-cigarettes," Halpern-Felsher concluded. "That gap needs to be filled in classrooms and by health-care providers, parents and the media. We don't want to leave one product behind and leave teens with the impression that, 'Maybe this is the product I can use.'"
If you'd like to read more on this topic, check out my Psychology Today blog posts:
- "One Billion People Share This Addiction. Are You Among Them?"
- "Heavy Marijuana Use Alters Teenage Brain Structure"
- "Why's It So Hard to Quit Smoking? Neuroscience Has New Clues"
© Christopher Bergland 2015. All rights reserved.
The Athlete’s Way ® is a registered trademark of Christopher Bergland.
