KNOX COUNTY, Tenn. — The vaping trend continues to grow across the U.S. including in Knox County.
Last year, a survey found 18.1 percent of middle school students tried vaping or about 1 in 5.
Every two years, the Metro Drug Coalition works with the Knox County Health Department and Knox County Schools to conduct a middle school youth risk behavior survey. They also do a high school survey on opposite years.
In the 2018 middle school survey, 12 percent said they tried a cigarette, which is down from 19 percent in 2013.
The 2017 Knox County high school survey revealed 30.7 percent of students tried vaping, and nearly 15 percent were regularly vaping.
"We expect when we do the survey again this year that it will probably be even higher because these products are becoming even more popular among our high school and middle school students," Metro Drug Coalition Exec. Director Karen Pershing said.
The 2017 survey also showed only 9 percent of high school students were regularly smoking cigarettes.
"They're switching to these vape products and actually using vape products at an even higher rate than they had been using traditional tobacco products, and that's the alarming part for us," Pershing said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention opened an investigation into vaping-related respiratory illnesses and deaths.
On Monday, a California county reported a person died after suffering from a severe lung illness tied to vaping, making it the seventh vaping-related death in the nation.
Pershing said right now, experts do not know the specific cause of the illnesses and deaths, but it is important to determine if ingredients in FDA-regulated vaping products are causing the issue or ingredients in illegal vaping cartridges.
"I think now we're really able to position this issue as something of an emergency because of the fact that people are dying, and they're dying quickly, much more quickly," Pershing said. "And they're younger, much younger."
"You know, when you see a traditional tobacco smoker, they're maybe 60, 70 years old before they die from a lung-related illness related to their smoking whereas these vape products, you're talking about a 20-year-old."
Pershing advises parents to seek medical help from their doctor if they want to help their teens quit smoking.
"The doctor could determine what course of action for that parent to take with their child so that they do it safely," Pershing said.
She also said because nicotine is addictive the doctor might recommend a nicotine replacement to help teens step down from the addiction.
The Metro Drug Coalition works with the Knox County Health Department and Smoke-Free Knoxville on the prevention and reduction of tobacco use in the community.