Vaping and electronic cigarettes have been a growing trend amongst America’s youth, according to officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
As of Nov. 13, there have been 42 confirmed deaths associated with e-cigarettes and vaping in 24 states.
This rising trend sparked a conversation on Nov. 14 in Hillsborough about the potential dangers of vaping and e-cigarettes during a discussion at the municipal building in town.
“I feel like having difficult conversations and talking about things that are relevant to children’s health and really the family’s health at the forefront of the YMCA. This anti-vaping conversation is incredibly important.” Hillsborough YMCA Executive Director Ben Green said.
The Hillsborough YMCA served as the host to the conversation with officials from the Somerset County Prosecutor’s office, Empower Somerset and Pioneer Family Success Center.
“We can go back to the YMCA’s history from 1844, the YMCA has been an organization that has been flexible with the community’s needs. Whenever there is a need in the community the YMCA wants to be at the forefront of making sure families feel like they have a resource in the YMCA,” Green said.
He explained that he sees the Hillsborough YMCA as the third place where people can go to for support and information.
“You have your home, your work and your YMCA. We want to make certain the community feels supported by us and know they can turn to us if they need to,” Green said. “Vaping and e-cigarettes are in the spotlight right now, but like most substances families and children encounter we are well positioned to support the families around it. Right now with the attention being brought to this issue we want people to takeaway from tonight that the community of Hillsborough is there for the families of Hillsborough.”
E-cigarettes are electronic devices that produce an aerosol or mixture of particles. They can be called by different names such as e-cigs, vape-pens, vapes or mods.
Detective Scott Tallmadge from Somerset County Prosecutor’s office was the keynote speaker of the conversation.
“The earlier you can talk to children about vaping and e-cigarettes the better. It is a growing problem in America, that does not exclude New Jersey or Somerset County,” Tallmadge said. “The Prosecutor’s office is going to fight any type of crime or threat against its citizens. With the ever growing popularity and epidemic of vaping and e-cigarettes the prosecutor’s office is going to support every local outlet it can to bring the information and knowledge to the public.”
There have been 2,172 cases of lung injuries in the United States from e-cigarettes or vaping, according to the latest report from the CDC.
“We want people to ask questions and get involved in their children’s lives. Just be involved with your children and know what is going on in your community.”
Tallmadge explained that there is not enough data available with this trend, but officials are currently working to better understand the effects on the national and state level.
“This is our third night of conversation and the first years focused on substance use and abuse and mental health. We know that in this area the whole vaping issue is big,” said Pastor Tim Wolfe, Director of Pioneer Family Success Center. “We know that students are involved with this and want to make students aware of the realities of what they are involved with. We want to teach parents how to communicate better with child.”
He said the event had communication skill focus, as parents and children gathered around tables to work on exercises for better communication.
“Learning how to listen and share. We want people to bring down the emotion temperature when they speak to each other as something is going down,” Wolfe said.