Nicotine vaping on the rise among youth

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A new study out of London shows some alarming new numbers when it comes to teens and vaping.

The joint research from Western University and Brescia says 26 per cent of high school students have vaped in the past month.

“Vape usage has been studied before, but we wanted to dive in deeper and see what it is that youth are vaping and how that correlates to age, gender and the use of other substances like alcohol, tobacco and cannabis,” said Dr. Jamie Seabrook, chair and professor, Brescia School of Food and Nutritional Science.

The study based on a national survey of over 38,000 kids also found that 12 per cent exclusively used vapes containing nicotine.

According to the study, male high school students had higher odds of being in each category of past-month vape users than females. Substance use was also linked to higher odds of students vaping with and without nicotine.

The study also found grade 10 and 11 students were more likely than grade 9 students to vape exclusively with nicotine, while grade 9 students were more likely than grade 11 and 12 students to vape with both nicotine and nicotine-free vapes.

The authors say vapes are exposing youth to nicotine and putting them at risk of addiction.