Vaping – Protect Our Keiki!

Flavors Hook Kids!


click here or the image to visit the Flavors Hook Kids Hawaii website

click here or the image to visit the Hawaii Public Health Institute youth council website

Hawai‘i Public Health Institute is working to reduce health risks from vaping and flavored cigarettes.  They have set up a peer to peer approach “Youth Council” and your keiki can join this to become leaders in health for their friends and schools.

One of the most effective ways of reducing teen smoking and vaping is changing the norm among youth through peer-to-peer outreach. At Coalition for Tobacco-Free Hawai‘i (CTFH), we’re working with youth advocates to reframe tobacco use as the “uncool” exception, not the rule. Not only do we work with dedicated young people through our Youth Council to lead peer-to-peer presentations in their community and organize awareness events, we also fight for policy change at the local and state level.

By joining the Youth Council, you can be one of many young leaders in middle school, high school, and college who are ready to FIGHT back against Big Tobacco. Protecting youth and young adults from tobacco marketing, initiation, and use is critically important and who better to lead this effort than those most affected: our students! Create new goals, strategies, and help change public policy with the support of other Youth Council members, CTFH, and Hawai‘i Public Health Institute staff. The Youth Council is statewide with students representing six islands. Each member serves a one-year repeatable term representing their school and community. Be part of the change!

Health officials investigate first vaping-related illness in Big Island youth.

Star Advertiser, Kristin Consillio, Sept. 10, 2019– State health officials are investigating the first severe respiratory illness possibly related to vaping in a Hawaii Island youth who has been hospitalized. The Department of Health said it received a report of a “serious lung injury” earlier this week and is “aggressively gathering” information to determine the cause of the illness. More than 450 cases of severe lung injury, including at least six deaths — many related to illicit cannabinoid products, such as THC — have been reported to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Those cases were in 33 states and a U.S. territory.

“We are cautioning people about using e-cigarettes and advise against using unregulated THC-containing vaping products,” Health Director Bruce Anderson said in a news release. “We have alerted Hawaii health care providers and emergency workers of this issue so they are aware, and will continue to investigate this possible local case and work to determine the cause of their illness.”

Symptoms of acute severe pulmonary disease related to vaping include cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, weight loss, dizziness, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, diarrhea and fever.