September 6, 2013
E-Cigarette Use on Rise Among Kids
A new study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that the percentage of high school students who tried an e-cigarette rose from under five percent in 2011 to 10 percent last year. The findings are troubling to public health advocates and may bring manufacturers into conflict with the government over the marketing of products that are typically presented as a healthier alternative to tobacco cigarettes.
Sales of e-cigarettes, according to a Wall Street Journal report, may top $1 billion this year.
The products have gotten a boost from celebrity endorsements and television commercials that are prohibited for tobacco cigarettes. A USA Today piece suggests that backing from celebrities such as actress and talk show host Jenny McCarthy are making smoking seem cool. Because the products give off water vapor rather than smoke with toxic chemicals, advocates are pushing for e-cigarette use in public spaces now off limits to tobacco.
Increased promotion and word-of-mouth have raised awareness of e-cigarettes among Americans. While only 40 percent were aware of e-cigarettes in 2010, that number jumped to 60 percent by 2011, according to the CDC.
The Food and Drug Administration, which regulates tobacco products, is expected to wade into the debate over the marketing of e-cigarettes.
"No one knows what will come out. The FDA has played its cards close to the vest," Nathan Cobb, a Georgetown University pulmonologist, told USA Today. Dr. Cobb sees benefits to e-cigarettes similar to nicotine gum, lozenges and patches.
Discussion Questions
Should limits be placed on the advertising of e-cigarettes and their in-store displays? Should retailers that discontinue selling tobacco make e-cigarettes available in their stores?
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One of the major complaints about smoking wasn’t just its hazardous toxic components and dangerous second hand smoke, it was the way cigarettes were marketed. To now say, because the objects don’t contain tobacco they can be marketed and displayed in any way, seems like a contradiction and a step backward for the strides taken in responsible cigarette marketing. Just last year there were debates on the placement of cigarette visibility at the store counter for younger eyes to see. What exactly is the message that’s being sent?
They should ban e-cig advertising only after real cigarettes are banned entirely. As with real cigarettes, perhaps e-cigs will lead to nicotine addiction. But they don’t kill you. Health reports show real cigarettes have at least 53 toxins. E-cigs have none.
Over 20% of high school students smoke regularly. Why are we aroused that 10% of young people try e-cigs? If all cigarette smokers switched to e-cigs, we would have a healthier nation.
(Note: One of my clients is an e-cigarette company.)
We’ve made such terrific progress in limiting the use of cigarettes. Now we’re faced with a potentially more pernicious product, which can be doctored with kid-friendly flavors like strawberry and cherry. The strategies that worked to make tobacco un-cool — a prohibition on TV advertising, a prohibition on flavors, restrictions on where people can smoke — should be put in place here, to safeguard the public health.
As long as you can’t Double Size them like a drink at MacD’s, then leave it be.
Happy Friday!
Oh…maybe parents should decide what their kids should/should not do. Any parents have some time for these kids?
Tom…just a thought….
I think we need to first hear from the FDA on what the real risks or non-risks associated with e-cigarettes are. I’ve heard so many conflicting reports I have no idea what to think, and I don’t believe most consumers know either.
One of the parenting issues I see with e-cigarettes is that the lack of smoke means that when your kids come home, they won’t be as easily found out since they no longer smell like ashtrays. Nicotine addiction, even without the toxic additions that come with tobacco, is no joke.
Seems the e-cigarette brands would have done themselves a favor by producing spots that position the product as a means to kick the addiction. Instead, a stylized video of an actor on the beach suggesting that he can now continue with his addiction sends a troubling message, in my mind, to consumers of any age.
I’m not sure whether these questions should be addressed at the theoretical or the practical level, but since the latter will trump the former, let’s just skip to that. Will public health advocates continue to be “troubled”? Yes. (When are they not?) Will the FDA decide e-cigs are dangerous? Yes. Will they therefore conclude their promotion should be regulated/banned?
Of course. Will science actually justify any of these actions? Perhaps. For anyone who doubts that this progression of events is anything less than inevitable, I have a somewhat used but—still perfectly serviceable—bridge available for sale…pick-up, only, please, here in the EastBay.