"We were seeing a real drop-off in youth smoking, but now we're seeing an increase," says Dr. Beth Ebel, a UW Medicine pediatrician and researcher with the Harborview Injury Prevention and Research Center. Among teens as young as middle-school age, vaping with products that have nicotine "predisposes you to cigarette smoking later on."
Nicotine, once derived from tobacco plants to kill insects, works by altering the nervous system. "We've used it, refined it, concentrated it, and now we have a pure form of one of the most addictive substances known," Ebel says in downloadable video soundbites (2:22).
News reporters and news organizations may freely republish and distribute videos, still images and audio files produced by UW Medicine and the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Works must be attributed/credited appropriately (for example, “UW Medicine” – as denoted in the file) and must not be used for commercial purposes.
These visual and audio files may not be used to exploit or misrepresent UW Medicine or the University of Washington.
UW Medicine often licenses still images and stock video from Getty Images, but we cannot grant republishing rights. You may not republish single image files, videos or animations credited to Getty Images.
Logos of UW Medicine and University of Washington Health Sciences schools may not be republished without explicit permission. Contact us by phone or email: 206.543.3620 or mediarelations@uw.edu