Liquid nicotine is used to refill e-cigarettes and comes in attractive flavors such as chocolate, fruit and bubble gum. It is also a dangerous poison, powerful neurotoxin, and a mere teaspoon can kill a small child. Since 2012 there has been a 300% increase in accidental overdoses. The number is expected to increase even more by year’s end. A New York Times article published March 23, 2014, Selling a Poison by the Barrel: Liquid Nicotine for E-Cigarettes, reports that liquid nicotine is far more dangerous than tobacco because of the rapid rate of absorption. The invention of e-cigarettes created another new recreational drug that is unregulated and being made in the back room of shops and factory floors. This drug and the ignorance of those in possession has been cited in 74 poisonings in Minnesota in 2013. In Oklahoma, in the same year, 25 children under the age of four were poisoned.
Janet DeMars
Program Director
Jaywalker U
