Is the Rise in E-Cigarette Use by Teens a Positive Thing?
Posted: 04/21/2015 2:42 am EDT Updated: 3 hours ago
by Lee Traupel
In this brave new world of everything technology enabled we now have electronic devices that deliver a nicotine-laced fluid, which as/when vaporized is inhaled by the user.
E-cigarettes were developed in China and made available to the U.S. market in 2007. They are tobacco free products, e-cigs are actually vaporizers. They don't burn tobacco, the mechanism heats up a liquid, which turns into vapor, which can be inhaled or "vaped."
There is an intense debate underway right now about the relative health and merits of e-cigarettes. It's clear they are healthier for the traditional cigarette user and they can be used as an alternative to cigarettes, helping smokers give up on the traditional product.
And these new devices are becoming fashionable, especially with teenagers and may in turn move them to cigarettes as an alternative.
Regardless, teen smoking has dropped dramatically the last three years and execs in the vapors industry say this can be traced to the usage of their products. And, again, how usage of this product is rapidly becoming and alternative to conventional tobacco products of all kinds.
The recent statistics reported in the Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report pulled from the CDC's National Youth Tobacco survey showed e-cigarette usage increased from 1.1 percent in 2013 to 3.9 percent in 2014 among middle school students and from 4.5 percent to 13.4 percent among high school students. The hard and fast numbers: Over 450K middle school students and over 2M high school students are using e-cigarettes.
And, the usage of these products is increasing in popularity here in the U.S., especially with teenagers. The tradeoff with this technology vs. a traditional cigarette is they do not involve tobacco combustion of any kind -- this in turn does reduce toxicant exposure for others, and as a result, are probably better alternative to a cigarette for the user and bystanders in proximity to a smoker.
Regulations Are Not Well Defined and the Jury is Still Out on the Product
To date the federal government has been somewhat indecisive about regulating this product in the general population and for teenagers. The FDA has put in place some restrictions in the past but it has not taken a strong stance on strict regulations.
Most states have laws or legislation in place that prevents anyone over 18 from buying e-cigarettes; but, legislation does not make a serious dent in the usage of these products.
Is the quality of the product and who it's available from important? While e-cigarettes don't contain any tobacco they do contain nicotine, which can have negative effects on an adolescent's brain.
They don't contain or include smoke, ash, tar and the ton of ancillary byproducts that is generated with a combustible product and some vendors are focused on providing organic high quality materials and even as a social conscious brand.
Are "vapors" harmful to teenagers and others? Some think not including the "vaping" industry. The industry's position is there product can eliminate smoking by teens and adults. It's a product that negates and prevents the usage of carcinogen packed traditional cigarettes.
International Market Surveys Map to the U.S. Usage Patterns and Behavior
And, when you look at the entire market, not just here in the U.S. for teenagers and adults, 72 percent of users reported that e-cigarettes have helped them overcome the cravings and withdrawal symptoms and 92 percent said their usage of the traditional product was minimized when using e-cigarettes.
And, only about 10 percent indicated they had an urge to move back to tobacco products after using the e-cigarette.
"In a large, international survey (emphasis mine) of current, former, or never users of e-cigarettes, 72 percent of users reported that e-cigarettes helped them to deal with cravings and withdrawal symptoms, 92 percent reported reductions in their smoking when using e-cigarettes, and only 10 percent reported that they experienced the urge to smoke tobacco cigarettes when using the e-cigarette.
Moreover, of more than 2000 former smokers in this survey, 96 percent reported that the e-cigarette helped them to stop smoking."
Regardless of all the surveys about the merits of the product and tradeoffs for using them, more than 40 percent Americans are cigarette smokers and smoking deaths are responsible for one out of every five deaths in the U.S.
But, the vast majority of smokers want to quit and over 42 percent said they have been unsuccessful using "traditional" treatment like nicotine patches.
And, smokeless tobacco product (including inhalers) is now a huge industry, generating over $3 billion in sales per year and is still growing.
More than one fifth of cigarette users have tried e-cigarettes as an alternative. Clearly, this is an industry that is large and growing and it's impact on teens and adults will continue to be significant.
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source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lee-traupel-/is-the-rise-in-e-cigarett_b_7105358.html
