The mission of the Lung Disease Foundation of Central Pa. is to provide information to the citizenry of our local area about lung health issues. Through grants from the American Lung Association the Foundation has been able to educate parents and students about the dangers of cigarette smoking and you need to be living under a rock to never have heard about the serious and sometimes deadly health risks associated with tobacco use.
A much bigger problem now exists with the use of vaping devices. Vaping was initially considered by the FDA as a way to help prevent cigarette smoking. For some adults, the use of vaping devices has helped reduce their tobacco use. However, adults are not the only concern. The Foundation along with one of its other partners, the Blair Regional YMCA, has been meeting locally with school age children and discussing the issues of vaping.
The use of vaping devices in schools and among young students is so rampant that local school districts have great difficulty and limited resources to combat this epidemic of behavior. It is also clear that many adults and some parents seem unaware of the long term effects of the nicotine addiction associated with vaping. Our efforts have found that students down to the fourth grade are often regular users of some type of vaping device. Some of these children are vaping with the consent of their parents.
The earlier someone becomes addicted to nicotine the harder it is to quit
