Colorado, Massachusetts, and Michigan have united to fight teen vaping. They also joined with North Dakota, Ohio, and Pennsylvania in the fight against teen smoking. The “MY Quit, My Life” Program aims to assist youth aged under 18 years old to quit smoking or vaping.
Teens who live in states participating in the program may call, text, or visit the website mylifemyquit.com for assistance. Youth seeking help can engage in a confidential and free live counseling session with a youth coach.
This service can be useful to teens who may be at risk of smoking or vaping. You can learn how to deal with stress healthily and why your body craves nicotine.
National Jewish Health created this service. To get started, you can either call or text the helpline. You can also visit the website to submit some basic information.
Why would a vaping teen need such a service?
This is not a coincidence.
The Rise of Teen Vaping
Recent studies conducted by the National Institutes of Health show that the number of teens using vapes or electronic cigarettes has increased year-over-year. This program may be helpful, as it is aimed at teens.
Similarly, studies have shown that vaping could increase nicotine consumption among underage people. In 2018, NIH conducted a study that surveyed nearly 44,000 students from grades 8, 12, and 10.
The findings showed that 37% of 12th-grade students reported vaping, up from 28% in 2017. The reasons for using e-cigarettes range from friends or family members using them to the availability of flavors and the belief that they are less harmful than smoking traditional cigarettes.
The launch of this program and the information provided should be enough to indicate that teens are vaping in large numbers. This is not true everywhere.
As an example, teen vaping in the United Kingdom is at an all-time high. More than three-quarters of young people have never used e-cigarettes or vaping.
We ask…
Is this program effective?
Quitlogix is a tobacco cessation program that has been in existence since 2002. Clinically proven methods are used to achieve some of the highest rates of tobacco cessation in the nation.
However, the service’s popularity among teens hasn’t been what they expected. Teens have provided feedback, saying that the service is too focused on adults and was not designed specifically for teens.
National Jewish Health has listened to the teens’ feedback. Then, we created multiple ways to contact the program and get assistance. One of the options is to text message the helpline.
Other tobacco cessation options use text messages. Truth Initiative and Smokefree Teen are just two of the many programs available. My Life, my Quit takes it a step further by offering both structured sessions and live coaching. Teens can stop smoking and vaping by using these contact points. Will they?
The study by Action on Smoking and Health Organization shows a clear difference in teen vape usage between the US and the UK. What else do we miss? Are teens educated about the effects of vaping and their brain development on their Health? How well-informed are teens about the dangers of addiction?
You can start by looking at the vape use of teens in the UK or the lack thereof.
