Youth vaping rates keep rising in Hawaii

More Hawaii high school students are trying vaping and getting hooked, with the rate of daily vaping more than doubling over two years, while use of alcohol and cigarettes is dropping.

Statewide, a whopping 30.6% of public high school students said in 2019 they had vaped at least once in the past 30 days, up from 25.5% in 2017. The national rate was even higher at 32.7% in 2019. Meanwhile, the number of teens vaping every day in Hawaii spiked to 7.9% from 3.5% over those two years.

“These are not benign products,” said Lola Irvin, administrator for the Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion Division of the state Health Department. “They are inhaling the flavorants, the chemicals, the nicotine, the alcohol and the vegetable oils — that’s what they are putting into their lungs.”

https://www.staradvertiser.com/2021/02/17/hawaii-news/youth-vaping-rates-keep-rising-in-hawaii/