New data from UGA survey shows teens are increasingly getting hooked on vaping

As your children hang out with friends or go to camp this summer, there’s new evidence more teenagers are getting hooked on vaping.

Channel 2′s Linda Stouffer looked into the new ways that students are consuming the vapes, in some cases as young as seven years old.

A recent University of Georgia survey of Georgia teenagers revealed nearly 1-in-5 high school students admit to vaping, but many people who work in drug prevention programs say it starts much younger than that.

Some school districts across the U.S. have even established diversion programs for students who get caught vaping.

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Doctor Christina Proctor with the UGA’s College of Public Health studies teen substance abuse and says there is a concern about brain development for frequent users.

“It is a powerful psychoactive, ” Proctor said. “We still don’t know a lot about what the chemicals added to the vaping products can do to the body.”

Kids are not just vaping nicotine.

According to a 2022 study in JAMA Pediatrics, teen vaping of marijuana doubled between 2013 and 2020.

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So what can parents do? It’s important to know the newest trends and signs of vaping.

Some vaping devices look like everyday objects such as watches, USB drives and pens.

Also, most children prefer sweet-flavored vapes. Meaning, that catching fruit-like or candy smells could be evidence of vaping.

Vaping also makes users’ mouths dry, so if your child is drinking more water than usual, that too could be a sign.

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