Teens Taking Nicotine Road

I have made a lot of mistakes in my life.  One of the most unfortunate was the decision to start smoking.  I was probably fourteen years old.  None of my friends smoked but a lot of the kids who I perceived as “cool” did.  I struggled with low self-esteem so I viewed smoking as a way to advance my image.  My dad smoked cigarettes and I found a way to sneak some from the drawer in his dresser.  I continued to smoke throughout high school.  Again, most of my friends did not smoke but it became my identity.  I was the only guy on the track and cross country teams to steal a smoke before practice.  The coach knew it and just shook his head.  Who knows what kind of runner I would have been if I hadn’t broken training. 

When I went off to college I traded my cigarettes for a pipe.  In my mind it made me look sophisticated and astute.  I continued to smoke a pipe during my time in youth ministry.  It became my trademark. I had a collection of pipes and kept them on a rack in my office.  Unfortunately, even in the 80’s smoking was still an acceptable behavior.  I enjoyed smoking a pipe, and never gave a thought to the fact that smoking is an addictive behavior.  The nicotine found in any tobacco is an addictive drug.  I made the decision to quit smoking in the mid 90’s.  Time had changed and there were fewer and fewer place where I could smoke my pipe. 

While smoking is still an issue, the cost of tobacco products and the confirmed health effects have led to an overall decline.  Fewer teens are using tobacco products as well, but now there is a new concern.  The issue is vaping, the use of E-cigarettes.  According to federal government data, 20% of U.S. high schoolers use e-cigarettes.  That has opened the door to a whole new addiction problem.  That has caused the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to label nicotine addiction as an “epidemic” among young people.  This has caught addiction experts off guard.  There are few options to treating nicotine addiction among teens. 

Suddenly, there are a lot of young people and parents looking for treatment and wondering what to do.  The typical replacement therapies like patches and gum are designed for adult use.  They also have not proven effective against e-cigarette dependence.  Complicating matters, parents who are looking for out-patient care for their teens will find their insurance will usually not cover nicotine addiction. 

Being aware of the problem is only the beginning.  Confronting the issue and being open about our experience with tobacco products is a great way to combat the issue and discourage young folks from taking the nicotine road.