Fox News Digital: How to Quit Vaping As the E-Cigarette Fad Fires Up—6 Smart Steps to Take

Fox News Digital recently interviewed Itai Danovitch, MD, chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences at Cedars-Sinai, about the rise of vaping among adolescents, the potential for addiction and tips for quitting. 

Tweens, teens and young adults who try electronic cigarettes or vaping for the first time can set themselves up for addiction. “Kids don’t recognize the risks and harms associated with something that appears to them to be very normative and around everywhere, and such things have a lot of social value,” Danovitch told Fox News Digital.  

According to Danovitch, 80% of kids who begin smoking before 18 will continue to do so as adults. Individuals who vape and use e-cigarettes can become dependent on nicotine, the addictive chemical found in both items.

Young adults who smoke also are more likely to use other substances. “The priming that happens in the brain for kids increases the risk that they’re going to develop addiction down the line to other substances like alcohol or illicit drugs,” Danovitch told Fox News Digital. 

For those seeking to stop, Danovitch recommended picking a quit date and forming a plan for coping with the challenges ahead, such as social situations in which it’s tempting to vape or smoke. Sharing the plan with friends and family can increase accountability.  

The first few days might be difficult, but nicotine replacement therapies, such as patches and gum, can make it easier for most adults and kids who have a well-established addiction, Danovitch said. 

Counseling resources are available to help by forming plans and anticipating challenges. “We don’t want to be dependent on anything, especially something that makes us unhealthy,” Danovitch told Fox News Digital.

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