United States: a digital vaping prevention program for young people

To raise awareness and educate American students about the health dangers associated with the use of electronic cigarettes and to reduce the high consumption of vaping products among young people, the associations Truth Initiative And Kaiser Permanente launched a national youth vaping prevention program. Carried out in collaboration with the American Heart Association, this program is called: Vaping: Know the Truth.

Consumption of vaping products among high school students (15 to 18 years old) remained high in 2020 with 22% of students having used e-cigarettes in the last 30 days. They were 22.5% in 2019[1]Schools and teachers have an important role in health education and providing tools to help users quit.

The Vaping: Know the Truth program offers interactive lessons to educate young people about vaping and its dangers, as well as how tobacco companies target them. Many young people are unaware of the health risks of e-cigarettes when they first start using them, and they are also unaware of the risks of nicotine addiction. A majority of young users are unaware that they are consuming nicotine when using flavored liquids: nearly two-thirds of JUUL flagship brand users ages 15 to 21 were unaware that nicotine was in all of the brand’s products[2].

The effectiveness of digital tools to help young people quit

A new survey from Truth Initiative found that 60% of current young e-cigarette users surveyed wanted to quit vaping within the next year. Of those who wanted to quit, 43.6% said that having a support system and support system on social media would help them in their quest. For example, following and watching social media influencers who are trying to quit themselves would motivate them to quit. More than half (51.2%) said that sending regular text messages of support would also help them quit vaping.

As part of this program, Truth is partnering with several influencers (who are vapers) on the social network TikTok who are inviting young people and their tens of millions of subscribers to join them in their process of “quitting together”[3]The campaign, launched on January 8, 2021, highlights influencers' exit journeys using This is Quitting[4]. This free, anonymous text message program is specifically aimed at young people and is tailored to their age (ages 13-24). It also takes into account product use to provide adolescents and young adults with appropriate guidance on how to quit. The program has helped nearly 250,000 young people quit vaping.