Boston Children's Health Physicians | Growing Vaping Epidemic

August 30, 2019

Vape product companies have come under legal scrutiny for targeting kids and teens in their advertising and getting them hooked on nicotine. Boston Children’s Health Physicians Pediatric Pulmonologist, Dr. Amy Brown, was interviewed by FIOS1-HV on the dangers of vaping and how parents should take a proactive approach to put an end to this epidemic.

Video Transcript

Newsreporter #1: Vape product companies have come under recent legal scrutiny about their advertising. Lawsuits accuse those companies of targeting kids and getting them hooked on nicotine. FIOS 1's Diane Caruso spoke to a doctor about the dangers of this trendy alternative to cigarettes.

Newsreporter #2: You've probably see or know someone who vapes. Well, Doctor Amy Brown with Boston Children's Health Physicians, out of West Harrison, says she's concerned about what it does to kids when they use it. 

Dr. Amy Brown: I've seen kids who I'm worried are having nicotine withdrawal. Kids who were expelled from school, their vapes were taken away, all of a sudden they present with a multitude of illnesses, and it's nicotine withdrawal. 

Newsreporter #2: According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, in 2018 a little more than 37% of high school seniors reported to have vaped, that's up from the previous year's [28%]. Doctor Brown says it's an epidemic amongst teens who could become life-long users. 

Dr. Amy Brown: There's something about the teenage brain that makes it very vulnerable to addiction. And when the teenage brain sees these this repeated use of a nicotine product, it gets addicted, and then the addition that happens makes you a life-long user. 

Newsreporter #2: Doctor Brown suggests parents set a good example by not smoking cigarettes or vaping in front of their kids, but it shouldn't stop there.

Dr. Amy Brown: So it includes parents talking to children, parents who aren't comfortable coming to their pediatrician and trusted health professions, schools thinking about what they can do and taking a proactive approach to protect our kids. But it's just not fair that kids are caught in the middle of this marketing of e-cigs and the current epidemic.