E-cigarette use among teens is soaring, federal survey shows

[MrsAngelD]

E-cigarette use among teens is soaring, federal survey shows | The Verge

Teenagers of the 21st century have yet another way to get their rebellion fix — and yes, it involves electronics. The use of e-cigarettes among high school students more than doubled between 2011 and 2012, according to newly released federal data.

"THE USE OF E-CIGARETTES BY TEENS IS DEEPLY TROUBLING."

Ten percent of high school students copped to trying an e-cigarette in 2012, up from 4.7 percent in 2011, according to a survey from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Nearly 3 percent of respondents reported using an e-cigarette sometime in the past month. Of course, the findings aren't being well-received by CDC experts. "The use of e-cigarettes by teens is deeply troubling," said Thomas Friedman, MD, the center's director, in a statement. "Many teens who start with e-cigarettes may be condemned to ... a lifelong addiction to nicotine."

The idea of e-cigarettes as a so-called "gateway drug" to conventional cigarettes is corroborated by the survey's findings. At least for now, e-cigarettes are cheaper than traditional varieties, and some experts and legislators warn that flavored options might appeal to teenagers. Still, of teens who'd recently used an e-cigarette, 76 percent reported also puffing on traditional smokes.

THE FUTURE OF E-CIGARETTES REMAINS IN FLUX

Researchers are still investigating the health implications of e-cigs, which manufacturers claim are safe when compared to traditional cigarettes and nicotine-replacement products. One recent study concluded that e-cigarettes impair respiratory function, but others have found that the devices don't trigger the same cascade of deleterious health effects as cigarettes. Additional research suggests that e-cigarettes might help smokers quit, or at least cut down on, tobacco.

The growing popularity of e-cigarettes — which were first developed a mere 10 years ago — isn't a phenomenon exclusive to teenagers. The industry is expected to crack $1 billion in revenue this year, and several Big tobacco companies have now developed their own electronic products to cash in on the trend. Meanwhile, the future of e-cigarettes remains in flux: the FDA plans to announce new regulations that might restrict how the products are advertised and sold.

 

[Baldr]

More people are vaping, period. That is happening at all age groups.

I'm divided about teens vaping. Obviously, I wouldn't recommend to my own kid that they start vaping, just as I wouldn't recommend that they start smoking. On the other hand, kids have been being told "don't start smoking, it's bad for you" for decades, and yet there are new smokers all the time. If it was my kid, and the options were "vape or smoke" and "don't do either one" wasn't on the table, I'd clearly want them to vape.

The vast majority of the shops won't sell to people under 18. Some states have laws against it, and I expect more will in the future. But that won't stop it, because the kids can order online, or they can get a friend to buy for them at a B&M, etc. Teens have always been able to get alcohol, cigarettes, and "other things", so vaping won't be any different.

A friend of mine is a teacher at a high school, and she's told me that a lot of the kids smoke outside of school and vape while at school. It's hard to get away with smoking at school since the smell attracts attention. It makes it hard to hide. With vaping, they can vape and not have a lot of smell, or they can even stealth vape and not have a big cloud of vapor.

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

Funny...ban stuff...yet people who want it still get it, those that don't want to use it don't get em...

I'm all for people under 18 not getting them...but odd thing is...they STILL get em...e-cigs, regular cigs, **stuff that shall not be named**

All I can say is this...I am glad they are not getting all that TAR and Carbon Monoxide found in regular analogs like I got when i started smoking 20 years ago...

 

[Phairoh]

The article is poorly written and sourced, I felt, and I said as much in the comments. At the time I did, though, they had not yet posted a link to the actual report but they since have. I recommend people take a look at what the report itself says, as it's fairly reasonable and quite interesting (if you're a numbers geek like me, that is...).

Notes from the Field: Electronic Cigarette Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2011–2012

 

[Talyon]

" the FDA plans to announce new regulations that Mightrestrict how the products are advertised and Sold"

Hmmmm, inside info? Sold as in online sales......
Might as in maybe, perhaps, not sure.

 

[DC2]

This survey ought to get a lot of mothers up in arms.
And nothing is more threatening to freedom than mothers up in arms.

I hate when I have to say things like that, but someone has to.

 

[MissKitty47]

I'm in the rather have 'em vape than smoke camp..hands down, any day...

 

[WarHawk-AVG]

" the FDA plans to announce new regulations that Mightrestrict how the products are advertised and Sold"

Hmmmm, inside info? Sold as in online sales......
Might as in maybe, perhaps, not sure.

wait for it.....wait for iiiiiiiit....."It's for the chiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiildren!!!"

 

[Vocalek]

The story reports incorrectly: "Ten percent of high school students copped to trying an e-cigarette in 2012, up from 4.7 percent in 2011, according to a survey from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)."

The 10% and 4.7% figures are for "ever use" of e-cigarettes. "Ever use" is a cumulative number that includes use not only in the current year but all past years as well. In CDC's own words, "Ever electronic cigarette use defined as having ever used electronic cigarettes, even just one time."

The numbers for "current use" are 1.5% in 2011 and 2.8% in 2012. That's not double. But the category name is misleading. It doesn't mean what it sounds like it means. The definition for "current use" is "using on 1 or more of the 30 days preceding the survey." Even though all frequent users would fall into this category, so would someone who tried one puff 29 days ago.

The "daily use" numbers are the most pertinent data. But even though the CDC collected this data, they chose not to report it.

The "current use" figures for all students grades 6 through 12 were 1.1% and 2.1% for 2011 and 2012. "Daily use" would of course be smaller percentages.

Comparisons? Current smokers (of traditional cigarettes) were 18.1% of all high school students in 2011 and 19.5% in 2009. I was unable to find numbers for 2010. They might be there, but CDC has an annoying habit of changing the names of some reports from one year to the next.

 

[DC2]

The "daily use" numbers are the most pertinent data. But even though the CDC collected this data, they chose not to report it.

So basically this is a government generated anti-vaping propaganda piece.

 

[Traver]

So basically this is a government generated anti-vaping propaganda piece.

It is to some extent. Just because ten kids tried an e-cig from one of their friends at a party doesn't mean they are going to start vaping. So the "ever use" use isn't as bad as it sounds.
However the "current use" use of 2.8% seems realistic to me. More important it may about doubling year by year and we can expect that to continue for a while. To me it seems that we can no longer say that teens aren't a problem for this industry.

 

[Mart]

I saw this on the news last night on NBC. What really killed me about it, is that they wanted to ban ecigs from teenagers, leaving them the alternative to smoke analogs. That to me is dumb as hell.
Sure the teens shouldn't start at all, but if they do, an ecig is a lot better for them than a burning stick.
What I got from it was that ecigs are the devil, and they should be banned, but not analog cigs.
I see a tobacco company conspiracy here.

 

[DC2]

The number of young people that have ever tried electronic cigarettes only matters if they go on to be regular users.
The number of young people that have tried one in the last 30 days only matters if they go on to be regular users.

Otherwise they are just kids experimenting, which is what kids do.

I can easily imagine lots and lots of young people trying them.
What I can not imagine is very many of them ever moving into using them regularly.

What if "ever use" and "current use" are both increasing but "daily use" is remaining stagnant?
Then these study results would be a GOOD thing, rather than the bad thing that it seems is being implied.

How could the CDC print the results of a study like this and leave out "daily use" statistics?

 

[DC2]

The number of young people that have ever tried electronic cigarettes only matters if they go on to be regular users.
The number of young people that have tried one in the last 30 days only matters if they go on to be regular users.

Otherwise they are just kids experimenting, which is what kids do.

I can easily imagine lots and lots of young people trying them.
What I can not imagine is very many of them ever moving into using them regularly.

What if "ever use" and "current use" are both increasing but "daily use" is remaining stagnant?
Then these study results would be a GOOD thing, rather than the bad thing that it seems is being implied.

How could the CDC print the results of a study like this and leave out "daily use" statistics?

 

[AgentAnia]

Seems to me that for these statistics to have any relevance at all, we need to know more than "ever use" or "current use" as defined by CDC. As I understand it, "ever use" was defined as "tried an ecig," and current use" as "tried an ecig within the past 30 days."

How about a figure for "regular use" or "used more than once" (How many times have you used an ecig? How many times have you used an ecig during the past 30 days?") or "used ecig to try to stop smoking" (Had you previously smoked cigarettes before you tried an ecig? If so, how many cigarettes and for how long?") And of course the question they seem so reluctant to ask: "If you never smoked cigarettes before trying an ecig, have you smoked cigarettes after trying an ecig? If so, are you currently smokign cigarettes?"

Also, bear in mind that these figures were generated from a self-administered questionnaire given to these youths. The antis dismiss "our" similar surveys, so why should be give credence to theirs? My

 

[Kristin0624]

I look at it this way... I started smoking when I was 15 anyway... had there been ecigs available then, I might have saved myself from getting so ill, etc if my friends had peer pressured me into that instead. it does concern me that people are allowing these to get into kids hands, but I guess that's just the same with cigs and alcohol. I flagged a craigslist post the other day with a 15 yr old looking to buy one. Gotta be vigilant.

 

[NorthOfAtlanta]

I would like to know how many of the current users are former analog users, in other words teens who could very well be 2-5 years into a pack a day habit and doing the same thing we are, using a much safer nicotine source. I think I read in one of the posts about this study that 76% of the current users also used analogs, any bets on the other 24% being those who tried one just to see what they were to never use them again?

 

[DC2]

I would like to know how many of the current users are former analog users, in other words teens who could very well be 2-5 years into a pack a day habit and doing the same thing we are, using a much safer nicotine source. I think I read in one of the posts about this study that 76% of the current users also used analogs, any bets on the other 24% being those who tried one just to see what they were to never use them again?

From the study quoted in this article...

In 2012, among ever e-cigarette users, 9.3% reported never smoking conventional cigarettes; among current e-cigarette users, 76.3% reported current conventional cigarette smoking.

 

[Traver]

The number of young people that have ever tried electronic cigarettes only matters if they go on to be regular users.

Try telling that to their parents and the rest of the public.

I could be wrong but I don't think the number of kids who used an e-cig for the first time in a month is going to alter the percentage of the "current use" figure to a significant degree.
Regardless these are the figures that the FDA will use when they try to ban online sales. It is also the figure that parents and the general public will believe when the antis tell them their kids are trying out e-cigs.

 

[Worzel]

Why do I get the feeling that teenagers who are picking up e cigs are actually trying to quit smoking analogs? What kind of teenagers are the article talking about? The 14 or 15 year olds hiding behind a bush puffing on their first e-cig (sorry, don't see that happening) or 17 year olds who have been smoking for a little while and would like to quit because performance is lacking in sports, and they need to get into college, or they are working and supporting a car, paying rent to the parents, and found they have better things to spend their money on than cigarettes?