Instructor: AnnMarie Martin

Before COVID-19 was the top public health crisis on the news, the epidemic rise of vaping among teenagers and a deadly vaping-related lung illness dominated the 2019 headlines. The vaping problem hasn’t gone away, and Partnership for a Drug-Free Community’s Youth Tobacco/Vaping Prevention Program aims to raise awareness. Points covered in this presentation include: identification and description of e-cigarettes (vapes, JUULs, Puff Bars, Pops); nicotine and the high levels of this addictive drug in vapes and its harmful side effects; dangers of toxic chemicals that create the fruit and candy flavors in vapes; COVID-19 and the fact that people who vape and/or smoke are at a higher risk; marketing efforts by Big Tobacco/Big Vape; and Alabama Quitline, which offers proven ways to quit smoking and/or vaping.