More than 75 percent of teens and adults say e-cigarettes should carry restrictions similar to traditional cigarettes, according to a C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health published Nov. 16.
Commonly known as vaping, e-cigarettes simulate the feeling of smoking a traditional cigarette. The battery-powered device delivers nicotine, which is often flavored, as well as other chemicals in the form of vapor rather than smoke.
Matthew Davis, professor of pediatrics and internal medicine and director of the National Poll on Children’s Health, said the poll asked teens aged 13 to 18, as well as their parents, about their attitudes toward e-cigarettes and what they thought would be approporiate for regulating the devices.
Currently, few restrictions exist with on how e-cigarettes are marketed.
“These (potential) restrictions would entail the prohibition of e-cigarette use in public spaces that would be similar to restrictions on smoking traditional cigarettes, would include labeling these cigarettes with warning signs of potential health hazards, and would also include some restrictions on the advertising and marketing of e-cigarettes,” Davis said.
Results from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey indicated that more than 4.6 million students under the age of 18 reported being current tobacco users, and of those, 2.4 million reported using e-cigarettes.
They survey also revealed that e-cigarette use is trending steeply upward. From 2011 to 2014, e-cigarette use among high school students increased by nearly 800 percent, and e-cigarette use among young adults has increased as well.
Data released in October of this year by the National Center for Health Statistics National Health Interview Survey indicated that nearly 22 percent of adults ages 18 to 24 years old have tried an e-cigarette at least once.
Davis said many states are considering additional e-cigarette restrictions, though every U.S. state except Michigan and Pennsylvania already prohibits the sale of e-cigarretes to minors. Davis was specifically interested in what the level of public support would be for those additional restrictions or — in the case of e-cigarettes — taxes.
Despite the Ann Arbor City Council’s April 2014 ordinance to restrict outdoor smoking — including with e-cigarettes — in certain locations, a complete ban on e-cigarette use on campus has not yet followed suit.
According to the Tobacco Free College Campus Initiative, as of October, 769 college campuses across America prohibit the use of e-cigarettes anywhere on their campus. However, only the University of Michigan Health System and the School of Dentistry have banned the use of e-cigarettes so far.
Though teens and parents notoriously disagree on many topics, Davis said when it comes to e-cigarettes, it seems that teens and parents agree about what should be done.
“I’m impressed by the high level of support for restrictions on e-cigarettes among these younger teens today, and even if that support decreased somewhat (when students go off to college), the level of support for restriction would still be quite high,” he said.
Along with support for restrictions, Davis’ research also found that upwards of 80 percent of teens and parents believe allowing the use of e-cigarettes could instigate use of other tobacco products. He also noted that, despite popular belief, using an e-cigarette is not necessarily less harmful than using other tobacco products.
Though potential long-term risks associated with e-cigarette use are unknown, exposure to nicotine at a young age can harm brain development, encourage addiction and lead to further use of tobacco products, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,
“The manufacturers of e-cigarettes say that their products are safer than traditional cigarettes because they have fewer different types of chemicals that traditional cigarettes have,” Davis said. “However, no long term testing on health is available for e-cigarettes because they are still a fairly new product and we don’t know what long term use may do in terms of any health problems.”