GIRARD — Katrina Altawil recalled a recent incident in which a close relative of hers suddenly and inexplicably started vomiting and developing symptoms that resembled the flu.

All the relative did was take one puff from an e-cigarette.

“One pod is like smoking a whole pack of cigarettes,” the Howland High School senior observed.

Altawil shared the story after joining fellow Howland High seniors Francesco Pishotti, Lindsey Shrodek and Raymond Murray for a panel discussion Wednesday evening at VEC Inc., 979 Tibbetts Wick Road.

A community forum, “E-cigarettes & Youth: Addressing the Epidemic,” examined the dangers of e-cigarettes, ways they are flavored and marketed to youth, how the nicotine products often are easily hidden from adults, and what many believe are deceptive and misleading advertising practices aimed mainly at young people by tobacco companies.

The other two panelists were Howland schools Superintendent Kevin Spicher and Denise Holloway of the Trumbull County Educational Service Center.

The students shared their perspectives on vaping at their school. They also discussed ways they feel what many are calling an epidemic among youth can be tackled.

Cigarette smoking among teens may have decreased markedly between 1997 and 2018, but e-cigarette use in high-school students has increased 78 percent from 2017 to 2018, as vaping devices have evolved. The figure was 48 percent among middle-school students during the same time, noted Tracy Behnke, the local American Heart Association’s executive director.

Typical short-term symptoms of vaping include acute lung disease, mouth and throat irritation, nausea, headache and a dry cough, though the long-term effects remain unclear, said Behnke, who also served as the forum’s moderator.

Juul, a major manufacturer, states on its website, however, that it employs a safety evaluation and advisory committee to review all materials in its products, has strict policies governing the amount of any chemical allowed in the products, and routinely performs toxicology testing to ensure no chemical in them exceeds those established policies.

Effective strategies to dissuade teens from using e-cigarettes require more than merely taking a “just say no” approach, Murray and Pishotti said. A better way is to recognize that many students have a plethora of stressors to deal with and to provide them with safer alternatives to cope with stress, Shrodek added.

Some teens succumb to peer pressure and feel they should begin vaping as a means to fit in, observed Pishotti, who voiced another solution to curb the problem: “Tell them this is bad, that this is not acceptable. Tell them straight up, no.”

Altawil added that it’s important to discuss consequences of e-cigarette usage by making them more realistic and personal with young people. That likely will resonate with them more than simply discussing abstract statistics, she said.

Similarly, Holloway noted that any curriculum designed to address vaping is more effective if it’s youth-led and includes ways for them to make more healthful choices.

Dustin A. Holfinger, the American Heart Association’s government-relations director, discussed Ohio’s Tobacco 21 law, which mandates that retailers post signs stating it’s illegal to sell tobacco, e-cigarettes and other alternative nicotine products to anyone under age 21. He also mentioned Ohio House Bill 346, which would prohibit the sale of flavored e-cigarettes and create a committee to study the health risks associated with the products.

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