Shahroze Rauf | News Editor
Featured Image: E-cigarettes and vaping have garnered a lot of attention in Canada, especially since a youth in London, Ont. was put on life support. | Courtesy of Pixabay
E-cigarettes may be leading younger users to illicit drug and alcohol use. With the help of a 2017 study conducted by Statistics Canada and Health Canada, researchers at York’s Faculty of Health found links between alcohol and drug use with e-cigarette use today.
“Given that among all age groups, Canadian youth and young adults have the highest prevalence of e-cigarette use, the objective of this study was to assess the factors associated with e-cigarette use among this population, and to specifically examine the association between alcohol, marijuana and illicit drug use,” says MSc candidate in the Faculty of Health and lead author of the study published in BMC Public Health, Vrati Mehra.
The study concludes that more than six percent of young Canadians, aged 15 to 24, use e-cigarettes within the month; 23 percent of which reported to have used an e-cigarette everyday. Almost one in every four of the same age group have reported trying e-cigarettes.
Mehra, who worked on this research with York’s professor Hala Tamim and psychology professor Yvonne Bohr, also reported that over 70 percent of youth that have vaped received their e-cigarettes through friends or relatives. The top reason these users tried e-cigarettes was simply to enjoy the flavours.
The debate over vaping and e-cigarettes began when serious cases of youth being hospitalized occurred in America. As of September 23, the American death toll for vaping has increased to nine. Health Canada has also warned Canadians that with vaping and e-cigarette use comes the risk of pulmonary illness. Although there has yet to be cases involving pulmonary illness in Canada, the US reported several.
“Until now, no single substance or e-cigarette product has been consistently associated with illness,” reported the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) at the end of August.
The CDC has reported approximately 530 cases across the US. Whether or not vaping and e-cigarette use causes pulmonary illness in most cases, the CDC has advised people not to use vaping products.
As a response to these new cases, Deputy Premier of Ontario and Minister of Health Christine Elliott issued an order under section 77.7.1 of the Health Protection and Promotion Act. Now, public hospitals in Ontario will be required to give statistical and non-identifying information of vaping health incidents to the Chief Medical Officer of Health.
“This information, not previously available to the Ministry of Health, will be critical as we continue to engage with leading experts to identify evidence-based solutions that protect our youth from the potential dangers of vaping,” says Elliott.
For now, government health agencies and officials are discouraging first-time vapers from using vapes and e-cigarettes, especially youth. Health reporter for the Globe and Mail Andre Picard says that this issue is just too new.
“Smoking is like jumping off the hundredth floor of a building. Vaping is like jumping out, we just don’t know which floor yet,” says Picard.
