Obsession with Youth Vaping Has Made Us Lose Sight of Far More Serious Threats to the Health of Adolescents and Young Adults

While public health agencies and anti-tobacco groups have made youth vaping nearly the sole focus of their adolescent health agendas over the past decade, far more serious substance abuse threats to the health of teens and young adults are escaping attention and wreaking greater havoc on the current generation of young people. 

For example, a new article just published in the American Journal of Medicine reveals that over the past two decades, the death rate from alcohol in the United States has doubled. The largest increase in the death rate from alcohol was among young people ages 25-34, among whom the rate nearly quadrupled.

According to a press release accompanying the article: "Results of the clinical research study, published in the American Journal of Medicine, reveal that alcohol-related deaths in the U.S. have surged dramatically in the last two decades, with the mortality rate nearly doubling from 10.7 per 100,000 in 1999 to 21.6 per 100,000 in 2020. The total number of alcohol-related deaths soared from 19,356 to 48,870, a dramatic twofold increase. Every age group has suffered increases, with the most alarming spike – nearly fourfold – in those aged 25 to 34.

According to data from Dr. Charles Gardner, approximately 4,000 teenagers die every year from alcohol (due primarily to binge drinking, motor vehicle crashes, and other injuries). Another 1,900 die from opiate overdose (due primarily to fentanyl). According to CDC, there were another 2,200 teenage deaths in 2022 from suicide. Thus, the combination of alcohol, opiates, and suicide are resulting in the deaths of approximately 8,000 teenagers each year. 

In contrast, the number of teen deaths from electronic cigarettes during the past two years is approximately 0.

Even if one includes the deaths that did occur due to vaping during the so-called EVALI outbreak, 0 of those deaths were due to e-cigarette use. They were due to the use of illicit THC vape carts.

The Rest of the Story

While many anti-tobacco groups lament the near disappearance of cigarette smoking due to the vaping fad among teens and would have us believe that vaping is an epidemic every bit as devastating as smoking, I believe that these groups have contributed to an obsession with youth vaping that has overshadowed more serious threats to adolescent health and allowed these threats to blossom unchecked because of the diversion in our focus. 

Because of these misplaced priorities, health agencies instructed youth not to use e-cigarettes during EVALI, rather than to avoid buying THC vape carts off the black market. Because of these misplaced priorities, public officials have banned flavored e-cigarettes, and in some places the sale of all e-cigarettes, while leaving the sale of flavored real cigarettes unchecked. Because of these misplaced priorities, the FDA has devastated the e-cigarette market, while leaving the deadly cigarette market completely unchecked. Because of these misplaced priorities, schools are using video surveillance to make sure no one is vaping in the bathroom, while letting kids use alcohol to their hearts content and while an opioid overdose epidemic rages. 

Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying that youth vaping is not a problem that needs to be addressed. But I think it needs be be addressed in a more reasonable (and more effective) way, as part of a more holistic approach to adolescent health that prioritizes the substances and behaviors that are the greatest threats to the lives of our children.