Explaining the dangers of vaping is a “passion project” of a Northside Hospital Cancer Institute expert.
Kenny Haney, community health advocate lead with NHCI, will lead a free discussion on the topic via Zoom at noon July 24. It’s part of the Wellness Wednesdays series at Northside, which provides weekly webinars on health-related subjects.
Haney said he began his work to bring awareness of the dangers of vaping, especially to young people, seven years ago.
“This was a passion project I worked on and found an ally in the form of Dr. Abu Chaudhry from Pulmonary Critical Care of Atlanta,” Haney said. “He saw the same vision I did and the rising risk for younger people. Together we developed a presentation to take out and provide education surrounding this topic to students, parents, teachers and anyone else whom it could affect.”
E-cigarettes are the most commonly used tobacco product among U.S. youth, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is highly addictive and can harm the parts of an adolescent’s brain that control attention, learning, mood and impulse control.
The National Youth Tobacco Survey said that 10% of U.S. middle and high school students used tobacco products last year, and 7.7% used e-cigarettes.
Haney and Dr. Chaudhry have presented at middle schools, high schools and colleges throughout Georgia. Dr. Chaudhry, who specializes in pulmonary critical care, has stepped back from the presentations since the COVID-19 pandemic but remains a supporter of the project, Haney said.
“I have spoken to just over 60,000 people about this during this time, all while evolving the presentation to meet where the industry and studies are taking us,” Haney said.
The goal is to help young people make informed decisions about vaping and e-cigarettes and to discuss vaping intelligently with their peers. Haney said he also hopes to make parents and teachers become more informed — even catching up to the knowledge youth already have.
“I also want to provide resources for parents to use if they feel like their child is in need of help with addiction to nicotine,” Haney said.
Learn more about smoking and tobacco resources at Northside.
Learn more about the Northside Hospital Cancer Institute.
