I'm a nurse practitioner based in Carlisle, where I own and operate Peaceful Balance Health and Wellness Services, P.C., a direct primary care practice.
I have worked as an NP for 30 years, providing care to thousands of patients. I’m also a mom of two wonderful adult kids and a grandma to six beautiful grandchildren. I’m writing to address a major public health problem that deserves more attention: addictive, illegal e-cigarettes, commonly known as vapes.
The fight against teen tobacco use is one of the biggest public health battles of my lifetime. It was a huge success – until recently. Today, our country is on track to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
Cigarette smoking dropped dramatically among teens in grades 9 through 12 from 1991 to 2021 . In 1991, 28% of teens were occasional smokers, and 13% were frequent smokers. Fast forward 30 years to 2021: only 4% of high schoolers were occasional smokers, and just 1% were frequent smokers.
This success was the result of parents, schools and public officials working together for years to warn kids about the dangers of tobacco use. Now, thanks to illegal vapes, all that progress is under threat. In 2020, the FDA mandated that all e-cigarette products must apply for and receive regulatory approval to remain on the market.
To date, the FDA has only approved 34 e-cigarette devices, all of which are either tobacco or menthol flavored. Any product that doesn’t have authorization is on the market illegally – meaning that the disposable vapes in bright packaging and kid-friendly flavors are being sold illegally. These products, most of which come from China, are not only alluring but also stronger, larger and cheaper than their regulated counterparts.
Make no mistake – these products are driving youth nicotine use in this country. Youth usage of disposable vapes has skyrocketed by more than 2,000% since 2019, according to the CDC . More than 2 million kids used e-cigarettes in 2023, including 10% of high school students and 5% of middle school students.
One study found that almost half of young people who used e-cigarettes tried them because of appealing flavors. Among middle and high school students currently using e-cigarettes, 89% used flavored ones. Like many parents and health providers, I have witnessed this explosion in vape popularity in real time.
From my patients, I know it’s only getting worse among middle and high school students who are exposing themselves to long-term health risks. I didn’t realize that the brightly packaged, disposable vapes I had grown accustomed to seeing at convenience stores and gas stations were illegal. After learning the truth, I couldn’t understand how they continue to be sold openly.
The sad reality is that the agency responsible for enforcing regulations against illegal disposable vapes – the FDA – is simply failing to do its job. By allowing easy and continued access to these illegal, foreign-manufactured products that are so clearly designed to turn our children into lifelong nicotine users, the FDA is complicit in allowing a youth health crisis to grow under its nose. I believe the agency should do more to protect kids from addictive vapes.
I urge Senators Bob Casey and John Fetterman, and Congressmen John Joyce and Scott Perry to push the FDA to take long-overdue action to enforce existing regulations and get illegal vapes off store shelves. As an NP, a significant part of my job is helping patients manage chronic conditions like heart and lung disease. The last thing we should do is create a new pipeline of health problems that middle and high school kids will carry for the rest of their lives.
Keeping our kids healthy must be our most important duty. Dr. Lorraine Bock, DNP, owns and operates Peaceful Balance Health and Wellness in Carlisle, serving patients from across the region.
She lives in Dickinson Township. Experts say that cardiovascular functions improve within 20 minutes after someone stops vaping. Lorraine Bock Dr.
Lorraine Bock, DNP, owns and operates Peaceful Balance Health and Wellness in Carlisle, serving patients from across the region. She lives in Dickinson Township. Get opinion pieces, letters and editorials sent directly to your inbox weekly!.
