Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky (FHK) and Kentucky Youth
Advocates (KYA) recently launched a campaign to discourage e-cigarette use by
youth (here).
KYA executive director Dr. Terry Brooks
predicted that “unless we as a commonwealth treat e-cigs as the health threat
it is — in terms of now and in the future — then in 2038, Kentucky will still
be the cancer capital of the nation.”
According to Ben Chandler, FHK chairman and CEO, “the fact that youth
e-cig use is often a gateway to cigarette smoking makes immediate action
imperative.”
Does evidence support the claim that e-cigarettes are a
gateway to cigarettes? No. Since the
campaign cites the biennial Kentucky Youth Risk Behavior Survey, I have used
KYRBS data to illustrate smoking and vaping among high school students in the Commonwealth
from 2005 to 2017.
The chart at left shows that current (past-30-day) smoking
declined from 26% in 2005, to 24% in 2011.
E-cigarettes were not widely available during that period. In contrast, during the e-cigarette era (2011
to 2017), current smoking dropped from 24% to 14%. The prevalence of current vaping, collected
only in the latter two years, was 23% and 14% respectively.
With the data showing show an unprecedented decline in
smoking rates, there is no e-cigarette crisis among Kentucky high schoolers.
KYA asserts that they “are laser-like in our efforts
to…protect kids from abuse and neglect,…help kids grow up healthy and strong…”
(here) If that’s the case, they shouldn’t ignore behaviors
that are far more dangerous than vaping.
For example, 27% of Kentucky high schoolers were current drinkers, 13%
were current binge drinkers, and 16% were current marijuana users. Additionally:
Prevalence (%) of Risky Behaviors Among Kentucky High School Students (KYRBS, 2017) | |
---|---|
Past 30 Days | |
Rarely/never wore a seatbelt (as an occupant) | 9% |
Rode with driver who had been drinking | 14% |
Drove after drinking | 4% |
Texted or emailed while driving | 35% |
Carried a weapon (e.g. gun, knife, club) | 21% |
Past 90 Days | |
Had sexual intercourse | 29% |
..…and used condom, 51% of previous | |
Past Year | |
Involved in physical fight | 21% |
Physically bullied on school property | 21% |
Electronically bullied | 18% |
Felt sad or hopeless | 29% |
Considered suicide | 15% |
Made suicide plan | 13% |
Attempted suicide | 8% |
Kentucky health organizations should stop obsessing about a mythical high school vaping crisis and focus instead on stopping other behaviors and activities that State data define as immediate health and safety threats.