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Welcome to our hour-long special on underage vaping, “What You Don’t Know Can Kill You.” This program is supported by Sonoma County's Office of Health Services. We also worked closely with Sonoma West Publishers, and publisher Rollie Atkinson on the program.You can listen to the entire hour just below.
You’ve probably been hearing a lot about vaping lately. Mostly related to two separate epidemics: the first, that more than 2,200 people have been sickened and 47 have died, from using black market vaping products (as of November 20, 2019). The second, that e-cigarette use has skyrocketed among teens, with one in four high school seniors nationwide saying they vaped in the last month.
When we first began reporting for our special this spring, we didn’t know that thousands would get sick from vaping. We didn’t know that the U.S. president would promise to ban flavored e-cigarettes to keep them away from kids, and then apparently change his mind.
We’re recording this special on Wed Nov. 20, and by the time you hear it, these headlines will have already changed. But one thing will not have changed, and that’s the alarming rate that young people are getting hooked on nicotine.
Here's an easily printable PDF file all about vaping, prepared by Sonoma West Publishers in partnership with the Sonoma County Department of Health Services. If you are unable to download or print this file, please contact us via This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. and we'll try to make copies available to you directly.
We hope that you will listen to this special as a family and that it will encourage you to talk openly about vaping. We're also embedding a couple of videos created by anti-vaping groups at the bottom of the page, and new updates as they become available.
[News from 1/29: Doctors Fail to Help Patients Stop Smoking, Says Report]
[News from 11/23: JUUL Targeted Young Nonsmokers: New York Times]
11-26-19 UPDATE: Cannabis expert David Downs traces deadly contaminants in the THC supply chain and warns young people about vaping:11-25-19 UPDATE: Here's the backstory from KQED's Laura Klivans on how San Francisco-based JUUL supported an attempt to rescind the vaping ban in the city, then pulled their pro-vaping advertising and conceded defeat.
