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Colorado Quitline now available to 12-year-old kids as a result of vaping

Colorado officials make Colorado Quitline available to 12-year-old kids after seeing an uptick in children and teens vaping in our state.

Kids as young as 12 now have the option to call the Colorado hotline to help people quit smoking.

State officials lowered the age for the Colorado Quitline from 15 to 12 in September -- all because of vaping.

"We have data now in hand that show we have an epidemic of young people vaping in the state of Colorado," said Alison Reidmohr, the tobacco communications specialist within the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.

According to the state health department's Healthy Kids Colorado Survey, 27 percent of Colorado teens in 2017 reported vaping. That's twice the national average. Officials said e-cigarettes were the second most tried substance among Colorado youth. Alcohol was 59 percent while vaping was 44. The state health department said many different factors contribute to the increase.

"They think it's just harmless water vapor and we know that's not the truth. We know that more than 90 percent of these products do contain nicotine, which is the traditional addictive substance that you find in cigarettes," Reidmohr said. "Recent research from the [Centers for Disease Control] shows that eight in 10 American high school and middle school students have seen vapor product advertising. They see it for the first time on TV, they see it online, and in convenience stores."

She also noted that the age of 12 is a common age for children to start to vape, which many parents are unaware of.

"A lot of parents don't know that. They don't know that's the time to talk to their kids about this issue they think, 'my kid's only 12, there's no way,' but it is possible and it's really important to have that conversation," Reidmohr said.

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper recently signed an executive order meant to limit the use of tobacco products, vaping products and e-Cigarettes by Colorado's youth. The executive order touches on smoking near state buildings, health advisories and a push to visit vape retailers more frequently to monitor and prohibit the vape devices being sold to people under the age of 18.

Within the order, Hickenlooper also made several recommendations for the upcoming legislative session. One recommendation is that Colorado lawmakers consider prohibiting the sale of liquid flavors.

He also dedicated this month as "No Vape November."

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