E-Cigarettes

The cost of cigarettes has sky-rocketed.  As expected, this has caused revenue for tobacco companies to decline here in the U.S.  In an effort to recapture sales, e-cigarettes are now on the market and promoted as a cleaner and cheaper alternative to use.   While regular cigarettes cannot be advertised on television, e-cigarette ads are common.  Still a relatively new alternative, use of electronic cigarettes has already doubled in one year (2011-2012) among middle school and high school students.  Although the percentage of those using e-cigarettes is still in the minority (1.8 million young people), many young people see their popularity as a symbol of being cool and adult.E-cigarettes use liquid nicotine as the inhaler.   Because there is no tobacco in them, they are exempt from tobacco laws.  Regulation has yet to ban them from being used indoors and advertisers use a macho or sexy image to sell.  About half the states currently allow children under 18 to purchase them.  It is currently unknown what, if any, long term health effects e-cigarettes will have. While there may be a role to use it in a medically designed program to quit smoking, we definitely don’t encourage its use in any other way.  We consider this device to be one that moves the teenager along in the world of addictive behaviors, with the next step being the use of regular cigarettes.    If you as a parent are thinking of using the devi...
Source: Pediatric Health Associates - Category: Pediatrics Tags: Healthy Habits Source Type: news