E-cigarettes and hookahs are gaining popularity among teens

Credit: taylor dahlin on Flickr

Increasing numbers of middle and high school students are using electronic cigarettes and hookahs (water pipes), reports the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). In addition, the numbers of teens smoking traditional cigarettes have only reduced slightly, according to the CDC’s report. The report also finds an increase in cigar use by some groups of middle and high school students.

The CDC attributes the rise in the use of e-cigarettes and hookahs to:

• an increase in the “marketing, availability, and visibility” of e-cigarettes and hookahs
• teenagers’ perceptions that e-cigarettes and hookahs are safer than traditional cigarettes

Cigar use by black high school students more than doubled since 2009. Cigars are available in different flavors. Small cigars are popular among students because they are less expensive than cigarettes. Hookahs are water pipes used to smoke tobacco. Like cigars, the tobacco for hookahs comes in a variety of flavors such as apple or cherry.

“This report raises a red flag about newer tobacco products,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “Cigars and hookah tobacco are smoked tobacco – addictive and deadly. We need effective action to protect our kids from addiction to nicotine.”

The CDC's report shows that the number of middle school students using e-cigarettes rose from 0.6 percent in 2011 to 1.1 percent in 2012. Among high school students the increase was higher, from 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent. The rise in Hookah use is also significant going from 4.1 percent in 2011 to 5.4 percent in 2012.

Students’ responses to the National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS) are the basis of the CDC's findings. The NYTS is a school-based questionnaire. For this report, the CDC analyzed data from the surveys done in 2011 and 2012.

Electronic cigarettes and hookahs are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Consumer groups and politicians have asked the FDA to regulate these products. Susan Liss, executive director of the National Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids told USA Today, "These findings show why it is urgent that the FDA move forward with plans to regulate all tobacco products, including cigars and e-cigarettes."

In early November 2013, three members of Congress wrote to the FDA about regulating electronic cigarettes. In a letter to FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, Reps. Henry Waxman (Calif.), Diana DeGette (Co.), and Frank Pallone, Jr. (N.J.), accuse e-cigarette manufacturers of using the lack of FDA regulation to target teenagers. What, if any, action the FDA will take is not known yet.

WebMD and the American Cancer Society have information parents can use to help them talk to their children about tobacco use.

The report, Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2011 and 2012, is published in Morbidity and Mortality Weekly.

Sources:

Tobacco Product Use Among Middle and High School Students — United States, 2011 and 2012

Emerging tobacco products gaining popularity among youth

Lawmakers to FDA: Regulate E-Cigarettes

This article was originally published by me on Examiner.com.