The good news: Teenagers are smoking less! The bad news: They are vaping more. A national survey confirms earlier indications that e-cigarettes are now more popular among teenage students than traditional cigarettes and other forms of tobacco according to federal health officials.
After years of success due to health campaigns like TRUTH, the generation that was supposed to end smoking seems to have switched smoke for water vapor. The problem is that, according Dr. Tom Freidan, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, e-cigs still contain nicotine and nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age.
E-cigs are battery-powered devices that heat up flavored, nicotine-laced liquid, turning it into a vapor that the user inhales, or "vapes."
While many smokers have been able to reduce their habit with the help of e-cigs and thus reduced the amount of chemicals and tar in their lungs and the air around them, vaping is not without risk.
The FDA announced in May some rules for the previously unregulated vaping industry. The FDA’s new youth-access restrictions, which take effect this month compel retailers to verify the age of purchasers by photo identification, to put health warnings on their labels and to bar sales of the products in vending machines that are accessible to minors.
Resources:
http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2015/04/16/400144741/use-of-e-cigarettes-triples-among-u-s-teens
https://www.thetruth.com/about-truth
http://www.fda.gov/TobaccoProducts/Labeling/ProductsIngredientsComponents/ucm456610.htm
https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/the-federal-government-is-about-to-begin-regulating-the-booming-e-cigarette-market/2016/05/05/d22ddec0-130b-11e6-93ae-50921721165d_story.html
