Recent study shows increase in Kentucky youth vaping

BOWLING GREEN, Ky.-While Kentucky’s leaders are working to keep tobacco out of the hands of youth, a new study has emerged showing that more teens in Kentucky are picking up vaping.

Since 2016 teen use of e-cigarettes has more than doubled, that’s according to a survey released by Kentucky’s Substance Abuse Prevention Program.

A local vape shop owner said the study has come at a convenient time for those seeking to raise the legal smoking age to 21.

“It’s not like cigarettes just came out yesterday, they’ve been out for a long time. Why all the sudden does the tobacco industry want to change the age to 21,” said Sam Freeman, owner at Remedy Vapor.

The study surveyed youth around the country and concludes that one in 20 middle school students are using e-cigarettes. For high-school students, the study shows that one in five are vaping.

“We still haven’t enforced the laws that we already have. When we did sting operations last year, there are no vape shops that got cited in the state of Kentucky for selling to somebody under the age of 18. It all came from gas stations,” said Freeman.

U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is working to raise the national legal age to purchase tobacco to 21, citing the increasing numbers of young people vaping and using e-cigarettes.

“Alarmingly, 45% of Kentucky high school students have report having tried these devices. In addition, we all know people who started smoking at a young age who struggle to quit,” said McConnell

Ninety percent of cigarette smokers try their first cigarette before they turn 18, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Freeman said that he was also a youth smoker.

“I was a pack a day smoker. I started smoking when I was 15-years old. I smoked to the age of 25. It wasn’t until I found vape products that I was able to get off of cigarettes,” said Freeman.

While Congress has already introduced a Tobacco Age to 21 Act, McConnell plans to introduce his own separate version of the legislation later this month.