Tobacco Cessation

E-cigarettes are rapidly rising in popularity in the US and Canada among adolescents. Over 25% of grade 11 and 12 students in Ontario report using e-cigarettes in the past year. Adolescents’ brains are still developing, and are uniquely susceptible to a nicotine addiction. The new generation of high-nicotine, pod-based e-cigarettes, including JUUL, are very addictive. They contain more than double the nicotine found in other e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes contain many toxic substances and thus have short and long term health risks, including impacts on heart and lung health, and athletic performance.

My name is Dr Shalea Beckwith, and I am the AAP E-cigarette Chapter Champion for Ontario for 2020/21. I am a consultant pediatrician and I work at Quinte Health Care and Kingston Health Sciences Center. Under my leadership, the Pediatricians Alliance of Ontario (PAO) has created this educational link, which has access to various educational resources on e-cigarette use and vaping. Our goal is to increase our colleagues’ knowledge of e-cigarettes and vaping in youth. We want to encourage you to access these educational resources to gain knowledge on this public health crisis, so you can advocate for your patients and adolescents in your sphere of influence.