Alaskans are invited to attend a live virtual discussion on Thursday, August 27 from 9:00 a.m. until 10:30 a.m. to address concerns regarding trends of the usage of e-cigarettes among the youth of Alaska. The event is titled “Reeling in Alaska’s Youth E-Cigarette Epidemic,” a live broadcast forum hosted by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network. The state’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Anne Zink, will be among the speakers.
The U.S. Surgeon General has declared e-cigarette use among youth to be an epidemic. Nationwide, e-cigarette use has increased by 135% among high school students and 218% among middle school students since 2017. Youth e-cigarette use in Alaska is roughly three and a half times the rate of cigarette smoking, according to the 2019 Youth Behavioral Risk Survey.
Tobacco-related health disparities also persist in Native populations with data showing that 16.1% of American Indian and Alaska Native middle schoolers and 40.4% of American Indian and Alaska Native high schoolers currently use e-cigarettes. This rate is much higher than the general population.
Dr. Freda Lewis-Hall, Senior Medical Advisor at Pfizer: “So there’s a recent study that found that in 9th graders who used e-cigarettes, they were four times more likely to go on to use cigarettes, cigars, and hookahs. A study that came out earlier this year looked at whether or not the actual devices might cause the production of toxic substances. It was found that, yes, there were some. Now, we weren’t sure of how those devices delivering this vapor to the respiratory system would actually act, but some of these substances have been found to cause cancer risk under other circumstances.”
This web-based discussion is free and open to the public. Register at fightcancer.org/akpolicyforum.