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WL Nugent Cancer Center partners with MCTUPP for vaping prevention series

high school students sit in an auditorium facing a stage. Onstage is a presenter with a projection screen
February 25, 2022

KRMC's WL Nugent Cancer Center has partnered with the Mohave County Department of Public Health's Mohave County Tobacco Use Prevention Program (MCTUPP) to provide a series of presentations on tobacco, nicotine, and vaping. 

Members of both organizations have presented at Kingman schools, providing education about prevention and cessation services to over 2356 middle- and high school students since last year.

"During the talk, we review a brief history of vaping, myths about e-cigarettes, and the negative impacts they can have on someone's health," said Diana Lalitsasivimol, PhD, clinical research administrator for the WL Nugent Cancer Center. 

This education is important, says Lalitsasivimol, because vaping has become extremely popular among young people in our community. The Arizona Criminal Justice Commission's Statistical Analysis Center partners with the Arizona State University's School of Criminology and Criminal Justice to administer a statewide substance abuse survey to 8th, 10th, and 12th graders every two years. 

In the 2020 Arizona Youth Survey, the percentage of students in Mohave County who reported smoking cigarettes or vaping e-liquid with nicotine during their lifetime was higher than the Arizona state average. The percentage of 10th and 12th graders in Mohave County who have vaped in their lifetime is higher than any other Arizona County surveyed.