Vaping trends are sweeping the globe, making us revisit the lessons we learned decades ago
David Hammond
Faculty of Applied Health Sciences
> Professor & CIHR/PHAC Applied Public Health Chair
> School of Public Health & Health Systems, University of 蓝莓视频听
David Hammond was out for a walk when a red package caught his eye. Lying on the ground was a cigarette box, plastered with health warnings and vivid imagery of blackened organs. It was at that moment his听career听aspirations听clicked听into place.听
鈥淚 was interested in becoming a clinical psychologist, but then someone once said to me:听鈥楾hat thing lying on the ground听鈥�听that cigarette box听鈥�听that鈥檚 a health intervention that six million people are walking around with right now,鈥� Hammond says. 鈥淪o, if I can do something to make that intervention a bit better, then my reach can be much greater.鈥�
Now a professor with the Faculty of Applied Health Sciences, Hammond is an internationally recognized researcher who focuses on听chronic disease prevention and global health in听areas including tobacco control policy. Working closely with governments around the world, Hammond has served as an advisor for the World Health Organization and an expert witness in court cases.听
It鈥檚 this experience that鈥檚 led Hammond to be a reoccurring spokesperson for an issue that, for the first time in 40 years, is going up听instead of down听amongst youth听鈥�听nicotine use, or,听more specifically, vaping.
鈥淚t鈥檚 like we鈥檙e going back to the听future and unfortunately, it wasn鈥檛 necessary,鈥� Hammond says. 鈥淲e didn鈥檛 need to听risk听addicting听a new generation of kids and that鈥檚 what frustrates me about it.鈥�
Over the course of his research, Hammond has surveyed about 36,000 youth between the ages of 16 and 19-years-old听across England, the U.S. and Canada. The results revealed that between 2017 and 2018, when Canada opened its market to JUUL听(the world鈥檚 most popular e-cigarette听brand),听the rates of Canadian youth who had tried vaping doubled. In 2019,听that data听doubled again.听Today, Statistics听Canada estimates about a quarter of young people听have tried vaping鈥攖hat鈥檚 more than 2.1 million听individuals.
鈥淯p until a couple of years ago, kids were experimenting with these products, but almost none used听e-cigarettes听regularly,鈥� Hammond says. 鈥淎nd then we had an innovation in听e-cigarette technology that was driven by JUUL, which combined a highly effective听marketing听campaign with changes to the chemistry of e-cigarette liquid听and听made it easier to inhale much听higher levels of nicotine.鈥�
Previous e-cigarette devices delivered between three and 24 milligrams of nicotine, while JUUL offers听more than听50 milligrams. This new technology created an explosion of use in North America, sparking governments to issue lawsuits against the company and questioning how to manage the growing phenomenon.
鈥淭he rationale behind these products is to help smokers quit. We have the patch or the gum, but e-cigarettes deliver nicotine more effectively,鈥� Hammond says. 鈥淚 firmly believe that you can have these products available to adult smokers that will help them听quit听without having a quarter to a third of all high school kids using them, but the only way to do that is through effective laws and regulations.鈥�
That鈥檚 where Hammond鈥檚听work comes in. Alongside other researchers, Hammond works from the ground up, helping everyone from local school boards, to big NGOs and federal governments all around the world to best establish a path forward. For him, it all starts with youth.
鈥淚nstead of trying to enforce kids not to use these products, the best thing is to change the听aspects听of the products that appeal to them in the first place,鈥� Hammond says. 鈥淪omeone who is trying to save their life and stop smoking doesn鈥檛 need chocolate chip cookie dough听flavour.鈥�
The solution, according to Hammond, is to determine the best regulatory mix of what makes these products useful and what makes them harmful. His work at 蓝莓视频 helps establish everything from what鈥檚 in these vaping products, to who鈥檚 using them, to the effects听advertising campaigns听have on its consumers. Hammond then takes this information and shares it in various ways, like public service campaigns or听as an expert witness in court cases. It鈥檚 a long and often cumbersome road toward any legal change, but a necessary route when tackling a multi-billion-dollar business.
鈥淚 feel privileged to do this work听and听it鈥檚 a big responsibility, one that鈥檚 given me more grey hair than I should have,鈥� Hammond听says through a chuckle. 鈥�But it鈥檚 important because vaping skews heavily towards young people and if we鈥檙e going to have these products on the market, we better get our act together in terms of regulating them.鈥�听
As of January 14,听JUUL Canada听announced that it will temporarily stop producing fruit-flavoured听vaping pods. According to听Micheal听Nederoff, president of JUUL Labs, the company听will reconsider introducing them听鈥渦nder the guidance and regulation of Health Canada.鈥�听听
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