Vaping, short for "vaporizing", has become a social media buzz lately due to the many health hazards it imposes on youngsters and adults that have become hooked to this new vice. Vaping has become an addiction and people are just ignoring the fact that it could cause life-threatening diseases and conditions in the body.
Just recently, the FLOTUS, Melania Trump made it to the headlines for hosting a listening session with social and public relevance in the health of the younger generation. She stressed that there is an alarming rate of deaths related to the sale of e-cigarettes and vape products. She asked everybody saying, "We need to be proactive", in dealing with this new problem.
Thank you to the @truthinitiative teens for joining me today & sharing your experiences w/ vaping. It exposed just how invasive these dangerous products have become in our schools & communities. I'm listening & will continue tackling this important issue. #BeBest pic.twitter.com/O5lHwTMPvb — Melania Trump (@FLOTUS) October 9, 2019
The said session was participated in by Truth Initiative - a non-profit public health organization which aims to end tobacco use and smoking addiction. The organization presented 9 teenagers to the FLOTUS at the White House Blue Room on October 9th.
One of the teenagers who were interviewed revealed he started when he was 12. He only stopped recently when he was caught vaping in school. The first lady commended him for quitting and told him that she was "proud" of his decision.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are already 24 vaping-related deaths in the US. The most recent one is the death of a 17-year-old boy from Bronx, New York. The State of New Jersey also reported its first female resident who allegedly died from the complications of vaping.
As of October 9, there are 1,100 vaping-related cases of illnesses that have been reported nationwide. In the State of New York alone, there were 110 reported cases of severe pulmonary illness that pointed to vaping as its main cause. The most common illnesses of these reported vapers were flu, lung infection, and pneumonia.
Several states called vaping deaths an outbreak and have favored the Trump administration's declaration last September 11 to consider a federal ban on the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and vapes. Dr. Anne Schuchat, CDC's principal deputy director, said in a recent interview that the outbreak of vaping-related illnesses is continuing at a rapid rate. There have been patients brought to the Intensive Care Units and hospitalized for weeks and she described it as "just terrible."
A few days ago, Melania Trump had tweeted: "Thank you to the @truthinitiative teens for joining me today & sharing your experiences w/ vaping." She ended the tweet with a hashtag, "I'm listening & will continue tackling this important issue. #BeBest".
The FLOTUS also expressed during the session that she is happy about some stores that are pulling vapes and e-cigarettes off the shelves to sympathize with the government's effort to denounce the use of the dangerous product.
Walmart, one of the country's largest retail chains, vowed in a statement that it will no longer add e-cigarettes in their next inventory, calling on others to follow in banning the product. Supermarket chain Kroger and drugstore chain Walgreen also expressed their sympathy and announced last October 7 that they will stop selling the said products.
