Unprecedented Increase In Teens’ Vaping Habits Has Health Experts Worried Even As Other Drug Use Decreases
The findings suggest that the total number of high school students using tobacco surged by 1.3 million between 2017 and 2018. In all that time, the researchers who conduct the survey have never seen a drug’s popularity explode the way vaping did in the past year.
Los Angeles Times:
More Than 1.3 Million High School Students Started Vaping Nicotine In The Past Year, Study Says
The proportion of U.S. high school seniors who are vaping tobacco products nearly doubled in the past year, with more than 1 in 5 now saying they have vaped to get a hit of nicotine in the past 30 days, according to a new study. The prevalence of nicotine vaping nearly doubled among 10th-graders as well, with nearly 1 in 6 using the electronic devices, researchers reported Monday in the New England Journal of Medicine. (Kaplan, 12/17)
In other public health news —
San Diego Union-Tribune:
New County-Led Pilot Program Helps Seniors In Crisis
When families come together over the holidays, there is often a heightened focus on the needs of a loved one with Alzheimer’s disease or other types of dementia. A new county-led pilot program is working to assist these families in moments of crisis. The Alzheimer’s Response Team (ART), launched earlier this year in East County, links first-responders, social workers and others together to make sure those with the disease get the right type of help in an emergency. ...Leading the initiative are county Aging & Independence Services, the Sheriff’s Department and other public agencies, along with the Grossmont Healthcare District, Sharp HealthCare and Alzheimer’s San Diego. (12/14)
The Associated Press:
Higher Percentage Of California Pot Passing Safety Tests
A higher percentage of California marijuana products are passing strict safety tests, but the sudden closing of a lab that state authorities found wasn’t correctly checking for pesticides has raised new questions about the system intended to protect the purity and potency of legal cannabis. California broadly legalized marijuana at the start of the year, and mandatory testing began in July 1. During the first two months the failure rate was about 20 percent, but state data collected through November showed improvement — about 14 percent of nearly 24,000 products were blocked from store shelves by tests. (Blood, 12/16)
Orange County Register:
Here’s Why Southern California Oil Refineries Will Soon Be Required To Closely Monitor Air Quality
The regional air-pollution watchdog will accept public comments for the next week on a series of proposed plans to monitor emissions at four South Bay refineries — including the Torrance Refinery — which the agency wants to implement by this time next year. ...The state and the South Coast Air Quality Management District are mandating the installation of new real-time fence-line air-monitoring systems at the South Bay’s seven refineries. (Green, 12/16)