Phones make everything so simple. In an era of instant gratification, a few swipes on an app or a text message can deliver almost anything you want. A text can even help to make life’s more unpleasant moments easier, like having difficult conversations with your friends or navigating romantic relationships. This begs the question: Can a simple action like sending a text help you with something as difficult as breaking up with your vape? Now it can!
In 2018, the Surgeon General declared the effects of e-cigarette use among youth a full-blown epidemic, as it has put an entire new generation (many who never smoked cigarettes to begin with) at risk of a life-long nicotine dependency. According to the most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey, e-cigarette use rose by 78 percent among high school students from 2017 to 2018, with 28 percent of users vaping more than 20 times a month.
Those who use e-cigarettes could be harming their developing minds and putting themselves at risk for addiction to nicotine, which could ultimately lead them to smoking cigarettes. In total, more than 3.6 million young users today are vulnerable to the long-term consequences of vaping. In fact, young people who vape are four times more likely to start smoking cigarettes compared to their peers that don’t.
This surge in use by high school students has led to many expressing their desire to stop using e-cigarettes through social platforms, looking for resources to help them along the way. Thankfully, there is now a discreet, easy, and quick way to get support, right at your fingertips. Honestly, it will be the easiest break up text you ever send.
truth®, one of largest and most successful youth smoking prevention campaigns directed by Truth Initiative, launched a program that allows you to send a simple text to receive free support to help quit vaping. As part of the first-of-its-kind e-cigarette and vaping cessation program, truth is addressing the unique challenges to quitting vaping that many people face. Expanding on the Safer ≠ Safe campaign, which provides educational resources for young e-cigarette users, the organization has developed a solution for users that is accessible, non-judgmental and easy.
If you're feeling lost or having trouble when it comes to quitting vaping, you should know that you're not alone. The free text message program was created with input from teens, college students, and young adults who have struggled with quitting e-cigarettes themselves. Plus, the program already has more than 30,000 subscribers at the time this article was published, according to the truth.
Take it from a subscriber of the program. A text from one of the program's users, an 18-year-old named Nate, says, “I like that I know I am not the only one trying.”
With this new program, users have the resources to combat addiction and put an end to it for good. Parents and friends of e-cigarette users will also find the program to be an effective aide when it comes to supporting their loved ones in a meaningful way.
Text coaching is not only convenient and easy to access, it’s a proven strategy that can help people change their behavior, making it a powerful way to provide resources, right at your fingertips. It’s free, it’s anonymous and it has the potential to be life-changing. In fact, the technology-based angle builds on the success of Truth Initiative’s This Is Quitting and BecomeAnEX® digital quit smoking programs.
So, what are you waiting for? If you or someone you know is trying to quit e-cigarettes or interested in learning more about the realities of vaping, visit https://thetruth.com/quit or text “QUIT” to 706-222-QUIT.
