MCHD
Contributor
The fourth annual Not A Lab Rat Day is set to take place on Wednesday, Oct. 20 and Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) is ready to spread the word on the addictive and dangerous nature of e-cigarettes. SWAT, Florida's youth-led movement to combat the tobacco and e-cigarette industries, is encouraging their peers to protect themselves and future generations from nicotine addiction by fighting back against the corporations.
Since its inception, Not A Lab Rat Day has empowered youth statewide to stand up and declare that they refuse to be Big Tobacco's "lab rats" as we discover the long-term health effects of e-cigarettes.
"This Not A Lab Rat Day, we remain at the ready to fend off Big Tobacco’s plan to lure a new generation into a lifetime of nicotine addiction,” said Alyssa Wheeler and Andrew Pepera, JMPHS SWAT students. “Youth are especially at risk of developing an addiction to nicotine when using e-cigarettes, which can lead to cigarette smoking and expose them to the dangerous health risks that come with it. We cannot allow this to happen."
Exposure to addictive substances is especially risky for youth and young adults. The brain continues to develop until the age of 25, and substances such as nicotine can impact this growth and cause lifelong complications such as deficits in attention and cognition, mood disorders, and a lowering of impulse control. E-cigarettes have the potential to pose a substantial threat for developing nicotine addiction; their convenience and use of nicotine salts can result in deceptively high nicotine intake. Furthermore, e-cigarette aerosol contains a multitude of harmful substances such as cancer-causing chemicals and heavy metals like nickel, tin and lead.
Madison County SWAT youth will be conducting a presentation on Electronic Vaping Products at Madison Creative Arts Academy.
In 2020, 21.6 percent of high school students in Florida used e-cigarettes; for middle school students, this figure was 8.1percent. While progress has been made in curbing youth e-cigarette use in Florida, there is still much to be done. When this year’s Not a Lab Rat Day takes place, SWAT members will be ready to spread the truth about e-cigarettes and get even more of Florida’s youth to quit for good.
For information on how to get involved with SWAT and help create change, visit https://www.swatflorida.com/join-the-movement/.