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E-Cigarette Use on Rise for Teenagers, Study Finds

The New York Times, By SABRINA TAVERNISE

WASHINGTON — A new federal survey has found that e-cigarette use among teenagers has surpassed the use of traditional cigarettes, even as smoking of traditional cigarettes has continued to decline. Health advocates say the upward trend for e-cigarette use is dangerous because it is making smoking seem normal again. They also worry it could lead to an increase in smoking of traditional cigarettes, though the new data do not show that.

The survey, released Tuesday by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, measured drug and alcohol use this year among middle and high school students across the country. More than 41,000 students from 377 public and private schools participated. It is one of several such national surveys, and the most up-to-date.

It was the first time this survey measured e-cigarette use, so there were no comparative data on the change over time. Other surveys have shown e-cigarette use among middle and high school students to be much lower, but increasing fast.

“The numbers are stunning,” said Matthew L. Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, an advocacy group.

The survey found that 17 percent of 12th graders reported using an e-cigarette in the last month, compared with 13.6 percent who reported having an traditional cigarette. Among 10th graders, the reported use of e-cigarettes was 16 percent, compared with 7 percent for cigarettes. And among 8th graders, reported e-cigarette use was 8.7 percent, compared with just 4 percent who said they had smoked a cigarette in the last month.

A 2013 youth tobacco survey by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released in November found that the share of American high school students who use e-cigarettes rose to 4.5 percent in 2013 from 2.8 percent in 2012. The share of middle school students who use e-cigarettes remained flat at 1.1 percent over the same period.

The gap between the two sets of findings was substantial, and researchers struggled to explain it. Both are broad, reliable federal surveys that go back years, and their methodologies do not differ greatly. The drug abuse institute uses individual school grades, while the disease centers combine grades, which may account for some of the difference.

Some experts said that the new data suggested the rate may have increased substantially since 2013, though it will be impossible to know for sure until the C.D.C. releases its 2014 data sometime next year.

E-cigarettes have split the public health world, with some experts arguing that they are the best hope in generations for the 18 percent of Americans who still smoke to quit. Others say that people are using them not to quit but to keep smoking, and that they could become a gateway for young people to take up real cigarettes.

But that does not seem to be happening, at least so far. Daily cigarette use among teenagers continued to decline in 2014, the survey found, dropping across all grades by nearly half over the past five years. Among high school seniors, for example, 6.7 percent reported smoking cigarettes daily in 2014, compared with 11 percent five years ago.

Most experts agree that e-cigarettes are far less harmful than traditional cigarettes. But they contain nicotine, an addictive substance that some experts contend is potentially harmful for brain development. Some experts also warn that nicotine use could establish patterns that leave young people more vulnerable to addiction to other substances.

The survey found significant declines in the use of other drugs. Among high school seniors, about 6 percent reported having taken a prescription drug, substantially down from the peak of 9.5 percent in 2004. Abuse of Vicodin, the opioid pain reliever, declined by nearly half among 12th graders over five years.

In states with medical marijuana laws, 40 percent of high school seniors who reported using marijuana in the past year said they had consumed it in food, compared with 26 percent in states without such laws.

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/science/national-institute-on-drug-abuse-e-cigarette-study.html?_r=0

USA Today – Our View: E-cigarettes cloud progress on teen smoking

USA Today Editorial Board

E-cigarettes, once seen as a harmless alternative to tobacco smoking, are beginning to look more like a new gateway to addiction.

This year, for the first time, more teens used electronic cigarettes than traditional ones: 17% of high school seniors used the devices, vs. 14% who smoked cigarettes. Kids in eighth and 10th grades favored them 2-to-1 over traditional smokes, according to an eye-opening University of Michigan survey released Tuesday.

In one sense, there is good news. Teen smoking hit a record low last year after a steady decline since the late 1990s, leaving fewer teens vulnerable to the risk of cancer, heart disease and emphysema that comes with tobacco use. But e-cigarettes are a troubling alternative.

Just as scientists didn’t grasp the danger of tobacco when the nation was becoming addicted, they don’t fully understand the risks posed by e-cigarettes now.

One is obvious: addiction.

E-cigs, battery-powered nicotine inhalers that produce a vapor cloud, could be every bit as addictive as tobacco. With sales skyrocketing to $754 million, 30 times five-year-ago levels, and tobacco giants Altria and Reynolds entering the business, millions of people are getting hooked.

This is particularly a problem during the teen years because that is when nearly all smokers pick up their habit.

For manufacturers, the logic is inescapable: Addict a teenager and you could have a customer for life; miss the moment and you have no customer at all. So in ways subtle and not so subtle, e-cigarette makers have applied Big Tobacco’s advertising and marketing practices.

One prominent tactic is their use of celebrities — including former Playboy centerfold Jenny McCarthy, singer Courtney Love, actor Stephen Dorff and teen heartthrob Robert Pattinson of Twilight fame — to make “vaping” look sexy and rebellious.

No one knows how dangerous this is because with federal oversight missing, no one knows exactly what’s in the devices, some made in China. A Japanese study found hazardous substances in the vapor at higher levels than in cigarette smoke.

There are obvious ways to address the problem, starting with attention from the newly confirmed surgeon general, Vivek Murthy, and analysis by the Food and Drug Administration of e-cigarette content. Both worked with tobacco but could be thwarted by a Congress rigidly opposed to regulation.

Alternatively, states could fill the breach. Nearly a dozen still allow e-cigarette sales to minors when they plainly should not. They could also use the 1998 tobacco settlement negotiated with the industry long before e-cigarettes existed. The accord defines covered products in a way that includes e-cigarettes, because nicotine is derived from tobacco.

By invoking the settlement, state attorneys general would be able to clamp down on marketing that’s targeted at youth, including certain celebrity promotions, concert sponsorships and access to free samples.

After a decades-long battle against youth smoking, it would be tragic to see a new generation of teens hooked on a different but potentially dangerous substitute.

USA TODAY’s editorial opinions are decided by its Editorial Board, separate from the news staff. Most editorials are coupled with an opposing view — a unique USA TODAY feature.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2014/12/16/e-cigarettes-teen-smoking-university-of-michigan-editorials-debates/20485297/

KX News: Students Help Draft E-Cigarette Bill

By Steph Scheurer, Reporter

The CDC reports more than 16 million minors live in states where they can buy e-cigarettes legally.

The topic of age limits on e-cigarettes is one that will be brought up during the 2015 legislative session.

Braden Will and Ashti Ali are 7th graders.

But even at a young age, they’re thinking about their safety.

“It’s kind of scary that 12 year olds, even 10 year olds can buy e-cigarettes,” says Braden Will, Simle 7th Grader, SADD.

“We don’t think it’s right that kids our age and younger can buy e-cigarettes because they’re just as harmful as regular cigarettes and so if they start now, then they’ll just get addicted for their whole life and we don’t want that to happen,” says Ashti Ali, Simle 7th Grader, SADD.

So, they decided to do something about it.

“The Simle SADD chapter wrote Representative Larson and said, you know what, we want a bill to protect our youth,” says Kristie Wolff, Program Manager, American Lung Association, ND.

Representative Diane Larson went to Simle, met with the students, and got a bill drafted that would restrict the sale of e-cigarettes to minors across the state of North Dakota.

“Currently several communities across the state have already developed city ordinances that are in place but statewide we do not have an e-cigarette ordinance so it is legal for minors not only to purchase but possess e-cigarettes across much of the state,” says Wolff.

Wolff says e-cigarette use among the youth has tripled since 2011. Currently 40 states prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. North Dakota is not one of them.

“One of the reasons could be because we only have session every other year and so this is one of the first times that our legislators, you know, are going to be addressing it,” says Wolff.

As of September, 18 cities across the state have developed city ordinances that are in place, but Braden, Ashti, and the rest of their SADD chapter hopes their voice will help make this change statewide.

“I like the feeling that we actually kind of get to help with this because it just makes me feel good,” says Ali.

“I think the way the bill came about is amazing because it’s coming directly from those we want to protect,” says Wolff.

E-cigarettes are included in North Dakota’s Smoke Free Law.

Anywhere that traditional tobacco cannot be used, e-cigarettes also cannot be used.

According to a list from the American Lung Association in North Dakota, Dickinson is just one city where e-cigarettes are not restricted from being sold to minors.

http://www.kxnet.com/story/27634626/students-help-draft-e-cigarette-bill

First Child's Death From Liquid Nicotine Reported as 'Vaping' Gains Popularity

By GILLIAN MOHNEY, ABC News

A toddler from upstate New York could be the first child to die from liquid nicotine, the substance used in e-cigarettes, poisoning in the U.S., concerning health officials as e-cigarettes continue to rise in popularity.

Police reported that the 1-year-old child died after ingesting liquid nicotine at a home in Fort Plain, New York, on Tuesday. The child was found unresponsive and rushed to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

Fort Plain police released a statement saying the death is believed to be a “tragic accident.” They declined to say whether the liquid nicotine was associated with an e-cigarette.

But health officials are concerned if steps aren’t taken to protect children, they could see more fatal accidents similar to this one.

The rise of e-cigarettes and “vaping” in recent years has also meant a rise in the purchase of liquid nicotine. Coming in flavors like cotton candy or gummy bear, health officials say that the brightly colored liquid could appeal to young children.

“One teaspoon of liquid nicotine could be lethal to a child, and smaller amounts can cause severe illness, often requiring trips to the emergency department,” the American Association of Poison Control centers in a statement today. “Despite the dangers these products pose to children, there are currently no standards set in place that require child-proof packaging.”

In November the American Association of Poison Control Centers announced that the number of dangerous “exposures” to liquid nicotine has skyrocketed in recent years with 3,638 exposures as of Nov. 30. An exposure means coming into contact with liquid nicotine through ingestion, inhalation or by absorbing the substance through the skin.

The number is more than double the 1,543 exposures reported in 2013 and exponentially higher than in 2011 when 271 exposures were reported.

Before this week, the only confirmed death related to liquid nicotine happened in 2012 when a man injected himself with the substance, according to the American Association of Poison Control Centers.

Dr. Donna Seger, director of the poison control center at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said her center has started to get more calls about exposure to e-cigarettes or liquid nicotine.

“They’re not that difficult to get into,” Seger said of the vials that contain the nicotine. “The issue is once the exposure occurs, it could be bad.”

Seger said just a small amount of nicotine can cause dangerous symptoms in children, including seizures.

Phil Daman, president of the Smoke-Free Alternatives Trade Association, said he was “saddened to hear the terrible news.”

“[We] want to always be mindful to put safe products on the market,” said Daman, who said the trade association recommends childproofing products to “err on the side of caution.”

Daman questioned if the child could have gotten a hold of a high-grade liquid nicotine that could be a much higher concentration than what is in many common e-cigarette products. Because e-cigarettes are not federally regulated there is a wide-range of liquid that could be purchased to use in e-cigarette products, ranging from potent high grade liquid nicotine to material that has an extremely small amount of nicotine.

In April the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention warned they were seeing an increase of calls to poison control centers for liquid nicotine exposure and children were becoming sick after ingesting, inhaling or absorbing the chemical through their skin. The most common symptoms were vomiting, nausea or eye irritation.

“Use of these products is skyrocketing and these poisonings will continue,” U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Director Dr. Tom Frieden said in April. “E-cigarette liquids as currently sold are a threat to small children because they are not required to be childproof, and they come in candy and fruit flavors that are appealing to children.”

To combat these cases of increased exposure some state lawmakers have introduced bills that would require e-cigarette companies to put child-resistant caps on bottles of liquid nicotine.

In New York State, a bill passed earlier in the year that would require child resistant containers for liquid nicotine. Gov. Andrew Cuomo is set to sign the bill in the next few weeks, according to ABC News affiliate WABC-TV.

At least one e-cigarette, Vapor World, changed their packaging this year so that bottles of liquid nicotine are more child resistant.

http://abcnews.go.com/Health/childs-death-liquid-nicotine-reported-vaping-gains-popularity/story?id=27563788

Our View: Do more to keep e-cigs, youths apart

The Times Editorial Board, SC Times

Surveys of Minnesota and U.S. youth show alarming increase in e-cigarette use. Lawmakers can slow this increase by immediately acting to limit access.

Two surveys released the past week — one state and one national — deliver a powerful message about the most pressing issue regarding e-cigarettes:
Government needs to lead a stronger charge to keep them out of the hands — and bodies — of minors.
To this point, most of the e-cigarette debate has been about whether e-cigarettes — which electronically convert liquid nicotine into vapor to be inhaled — are as harmful as traditional tobacco and secondhand smoke.
That debate has raged for years, even decades. A resolution seems months, or more likely, years away.
What’s more pressing to resolve — as evidenced by two surveys of youths’ nicotine use — is slowing the fast-rising number of minors who are trying these devices.
How fast?
The 2014 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey released Monday found 28 percent of high school students have tried e-cigarettes. On Thursday, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported 4.5 percent of high school students nationally used e-cigarettes regularly in 2013 — triple the percent from 2011. Equally disturbing: 12 percent of U.S. high school students and 3 percent of middle-schoolers had tried them at least once.
And remember, e-cigarettes have been widely available in America for only about seven years.
Such findings make it clear e-cigarettes hold potential for creating countless new generations with unhealthy and high rates of nicotine addiction.
Hasn’t America learned enough hard lessons from 50 years of tobacco-based nicotine addiction to know it needs to snuff out that potential now instead of waiting for more research?
Ultimately, there is no debate that nicotine is a potent, addictive drug. E-cigarettes are simply a delivery mechanism.
So lawmakers should act now to keep the drug and the delivery system out of the hands of minors.
An easy decision is to enact a federal ban on selling minors e-cigarettes, “e-juice” and related products. Minnesota is one of about 35 states with such bans. However, sales via the Internet still provide youth access.
Another important step is to apply the same rules to the marketing of e-cigarettes that are applied to traditional tobacco.
After all, even a cursory glance at products and advertising makes it clear many producers are targeting youth. Think everything from trendy-looking e-cigarettes (and accessories) to bubble-gum flavored e-juice.
Finally, there is merit in increasing the taxes paid on all e-cigarette products.
Such an approach proved successful in reducing youth use of traditional tobacco. And it might even dissuade adults from nicotine addiction.
Again, too much of the debate about whether and how to regulate e-cigarettes remains focused on comparisons to traditional tobacco.
Seeing how e-cigarettes are gaining traction among youth, the focus needs to shift to keeping these nicotine-delivery devices out of their hands — at least until they are legal adults.
http://www.sctimes.com/story/opinion/2014/11/16/view-keep-e-cigs-youths-apart/19089759/

CDC: E-Cigarette Use Rising in High School Kids

By MIKE STOBBE AP Medical Writer
Use of electronic cigarettes by high school students tripled over three years, according to a new government report released Thursday.
In a large national survey last year, 4.5 percent of high school students said they had used e-cigarettes in the previous month. That’s up from 1.5 percent in 2011 and 2.8 percent in 2012.
It’s not known, though, how many were repeatedly using e-cigarettes and how many only tried it once during that month and didn’t do it again.
E-cigarettes began to appear in the United States in late 2006, but marketing has exploded in recent years. The devices heat liquid nicotine into a vapor. They are often described as a less dangerous alternative to regular cigarettes, but experts say nicotine — including the nicotine in e-cigarettes — is especially harmful to children.
Dozens of states outlaw the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, and federal officials have proposed a nationwide ban on such sales.
The report’s e-cigarette findings are disheartening, said Dr. Patrick T. O’Gara, president of the American College of Cardiology. Smoking rates has slowly been declining over the last several decades, but “we risk going backwards if a new generation of smokers becomes addicted to nicotine,” O’Gara said, in a statement.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report comes from a survey of more than 18,000 high school and middle school students.
The CDC survey also found 13 percent of high school students recently smoked regular cigarettes, and that about 23 percent used some form of tobacco product — be it cigarettes, e-cigarettes, flavored cigars, hookahs or something else.
http://abcnews.go.com/Health/wireStory/cdc-cigarette-rising-high-school-kids-26893757

New CDC Youth Tobacco Survey Should Spur FDA to Finalize Rule Regulating All Tobacco Products, Including E-Cigarettes and Cigars

New CDC Youth Tobacco Survey Should Spur FDA to Finalize Rule Regulating All Tobacco Products, Including E-Cigarettes and Cigars

Teen E-Cigarette Use Triples, Cigar Use Stays Steady Even While Cigarette Smoking Continues to Drop 

WASHINGTON, DC – The 2013 National Youth Tobacco Survey released today by the CDC shows that while youth cigarette smoking continues to decline, electronic cigarette use among high school students tripled from 2011 to 2013 and there has been no progress in reducing youth cigar smoking.

These findings underscore the urgent need for the Food and Drug Administration to finalize its proposed rule to regulate all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and cigars, in order to prevent youth use of these products.  We again call on the FDA to issue a final rule by April 25, 2015 – one year after the FDA issued a proposed rule – and to close gaps in the rule by cracking down on marketing and flavors that appeal to kids.  The FDA first announced in early 2011 that it planned to regulate e-cigarettes, cigars and other unregulated tobacco products, so these important public health protections are long overdue.  We cannot afford more delays that allow the tobacco industry to continue targeting our kids with a new generation of unregulated tobacco products.

The FDA currently regulates cigarettes, smokeless tobacco and roll-your-own tobacco under a landmark 2009 law, the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act.  But the FDA must assert jurisdiction over other tobacco products, including e-cigarettes and cigars, before it can regulate them, which is what the proposed rule would do.

Key findings of the new survey include:

·        Youth cigarette smoking continues a steady, long-term decline, again reaching a record low.  In 2013, the cigarette smoking rate among high school students was 12.7 percent, down from 14 percent in 2012 and 15.8 percent in 2011 (the CDC last year published results of the 2011 and 2012 National Youth Tobacco Surveys). Since 2000, cigarette smoking among high school students has been cut by more than half (from 28 to 12.7 percent), while middle school smoking has fallen by 74 percent (from 11 to 2.9 percent).

·        In 2013, 4.5 percent of high school students reported using e-cigarettes in the past 30 days. That is triple the 1.5 percent who reported doing so in 2011 and up from 2.8 percent in 2012. This increase comes as e-cigarette makers have marketed their products with the same tactics long used to market regular cigarettes to kids, including celebrity endorsements, slick TV and magazine ads, sponsorships of race cars and concerts, and sweet flavors such as gummi bear and cotton candy.

·        There has been no progress in reducing youth cigar smoking in recent years.  In 2013, 11.9 percent of high school students were cigar smokers, compared to 11.6 percent in 2011.  In 2013, high school boys smoked cigars at higher rates than cigarettes – 15.4 percent vs. 14.1 percent, while African-American high school students smoked cigars at much higher rates than cigarettes – 14.7 percent vs. 9 percent.  Because cigars are unregulated, often taxed at lower rates than cigarettes and can be sold individually, tobacco companies have been able to market an array of cheap, sweet cigars that appeal to kids.

As the CDC noted in its report on the survey results, nicotine use by youths in any form is unsafe and can harm adolescent brain development.  It is critical that the FDA act to regulate all tobacco products and prevent youth use of any tobacco product.

The big drops in cigarette smoking demonstrate that we know how to win the fight against tobacco by implementing scientifically proven strategies. These include higher tobacco taxes, strong smoke-free laws, well-funded tobacco prevention and cessation programs that include mass media campaigns, and effective FDA regulation of all tobacco products.

Tobacco use is the number one cause of preventable death in our country, killing 480,000 people and costing at least $289 billion in health care bills and economic losses each year.  It is within our reach to win this fight and make the next generation tobacco-free, but only if we have the political will to fully implement what we know works.

The National Youth Tobacco Survey results were published in the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

NOTE: In addition to the increase in youth use of e-cigarettes, poison control centers across the country continue to report soaring numbers of accidental poisonings related to e-cigarettes and the  nicotine liquids used in them.  The American Association of Poison Control Centers reports that, through October 31, there have been 3,353 calls so far this year involving exposures to e-cigarette devices and nicotine liquids.  This is more than double the 1,543 calls in all of 2013 and more than 12 times the 271 calls in 2011. The huge increase in poisoning incidents related to e-cigarettes is one more reason why the FDA must quickly finalize its rule, including requiring child-resistant packaging of nicotine liquids.

Fewer high school students smoking

Posted by: Colleen Stoxen
In the steepest decline ever found in Minnesota, the percent of high school students who smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days dropped from 18.1 percent in 2011 to 10.6 percent in 2014.
The 2014 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey also found fewer young people used used chewing tobacco and cigars between 2011 and 2014.
Efforts to curb cigarette smoking appear to be helping. They include a 2013 tobacco tax, bans on indoor smoking, and tighter restrictions on youth access to tobacco products.
For the first time, the survey also asked about e-cigarette use and found that 12.9 percent of high school students used or tried an electronic cigarette in the past 30 days. The survey found that 28 percent of high school students reported ever having tried an e-cigarette.
“These new findings indicate that our statewide efforts to reduce and prevent conventional tobacco use among Minnesota children are working,” said Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger. “At the same time, we are seeing a wild-west approach toward e-cigarettes, which allows tobacco companies unlimited marketing access to young men and women. This has led to increasing numbers of Minnesota high school and middle school students using e-cigarettes.”
An estimated 85,900 Minnesota public school students in grades 6-12 have tried e-cigarettes, and 38,400 reported using them in the past 30 days. Nicotine is known to harm adolescent brain development. Nearly one-fourth of high school students who have tried an e-cigarette have never tried another tobacco product.
Read more from the Minnesota Department of Health.
http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/blogs/282152861.html

Tobacco tax increase a success: Fewer Minnesota kids smoking

MINNEAPOLIS, Nov. 10, 2014 /PRNewswire/ — The Raise it for Health coalition praised the results of a study today released by the Minnesota Department of Health (MDH), showing a dramatic drop in the number ofMinnesota kids smoking cigarettes. Specifically, the smoking rate among Minnesota students grades six through 12 decreased from 18.1 percent in 2011 to 10.6 percent in 2014, the steepest decline ever recorded by this survey. The study also showed fewer Minnesota kids using other tobacco products, including cigars, cigarillos and smokeless tobacco.
The Minnesota Legislature raised the tax on cigarettes and other tobacco products significantly in 2013. The proposal had strong support from Governor Dayton, elected officials on both sides of the aisle and a majority of Minnesotans from all corners of the state.
“The dramatic drop in the number of Minnesota kids smoking is one clear indication that the tobacco tax is working,” said Molly Moilanen, Director of Public Affairs at ClearWay Minnesota, and co-chair of the Raise it for Health coalition. “The tobacco industry spends nearly 165 million dollars each year marketing their dangerous products in our state. Raising the price of tobacco is the best tool we have to prevent youth smoking and give our kids a fighting chance against Big Tobacco.”
In addition to keeping more kids from smoking, the $1.60 per-pack increase will:

  • Help more than 36,600 addicted adults stop smoking.
  • Prevent 25,700 Minnesotans from dying prematurely from smoking-related deaths.
  • Save $1.65 billion in long-term health care costs.

“Thank you, Governor Dayton and members of the Minnesota Legislature, for taking this bold and important step,” said Janelle Waldock, Director of the Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, and co-chair of the Raise it for Health coalition. “These results reinforce what we know: increasing the tax on tobacco products was a victory for the health of Minnesota’s kids.”
The Minnesota Department of Health has conducted the Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey (MYTS) in 2000, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014. The survey includes questions on the use of various tobacco products, characteristics of smokers, exposure to secondhand smoke, media awareness and other topics. Public schools and classrooms across the state were selected at random and invited to participate.
For more information on the MYTS, please visit www.health.state.mn.us.
Raise it for Health is a coalition of Minnesota’s leading health and nonprofit organizations with a common goal of reducing tobacco use in the state. Partners include: AARP Minnesota, Allina Health, American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Heart Association, American Lung Association in Minnesota, Association for Minnesota Counties, Association for Nonsmokers – MN, Blue Cross and Blue Shield ofMinnesota, CentraCare Health System, Children’s Hospitals and Clinics of Minnesota, ClearWay Minnesota(SM), Courage Center, Four Corners Partnership, HealthEast Care System, HealthPartners, LAAMPP Institute, Local Public Health Association, Mayo Clinic, Medica, Metro-MN Oncology Nursing Society, Minnesota Academy of Family Physicians, Minnesota Cancer Alliance, Minnesota Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Minnesota Comprehensive Health Association, Minnesota Council of Health Plans, Minnesota Medical Association, Minnesota Public Health Association, Park Nicollet Health Services, PartnerSHIP 4 Health, School Nurse Organization of Minnesota, Service Employees International Union Healthcare Minnesota, Southwest Community Health Improvement Program and Twin Cities Medical Society.
SOURCE Raise it for Health
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/tobacco-tax-increase-a-success-fewer-minnesota-kids-smoking-282162591.html

The Taste Of Menthol Cigarettes Is Not Worth The Lung Complication Risk Compared To Regular Tobacco

By
Due to their minty taste and aroma, menthol tobacco products are often found more preferable than the bitter aftertaste and smell of regular cigarettes. Unfortunately, many smokers harbor the misconception that switching to menthol can help with smoking cessation. A recent study published in the journal Respirology has revealed that although better tasting than regular cigarettes, menthol cigarettes carry a higher risk of developing lung disease and being hospitalized as a result of complications.
Researchers recruited 1,941 regular cigarette smokers and 3,758 menthol smokers to compare each group’s overall health condition over the course of 18 months. Participants were between the ages of 45 and 80 and smoked at least 10 packs of cigarettes each year. The research team found that menthol smokers were more likely to be young, female, or black. Regular cigarette smokers were able to cover a longer distance in six minutes, while menthol smokers were more short of breath.
Although both groups had similar frequencies of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) “exacerbations” — worsening of the condition — throughout the study, menthol smokers had a higher frequency of severe exacerbations at 0.22 per year, compared to 0.18 per year for regular cigarette smokers. Using menthol cigarettes as opposed to regular cigarettes was also associated with a 29 percent higher risk of severe lung disease exacerbations.
“We were surprised that menthol smokers, compared to non-menthol cigarette smokers, reported more severe exacerbations and had greater odds of experiencing severe exacerbations,” Dr. Marilyn Foreman of the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Ga., told Reuters Health in an email. “Frequent exacerbations do affect quality of life and may result in greater loss of lung function over time.”
According to the Food and Drug Administration, over 40 percent of youth smokers and 30 percent of adult smokers in the United States report smoking menthol cigarettes. Following repeated attempts by anti-smoking campaigns to have the FDA ban menthol-flavored cigarettes, the administration recently began a series of studies to gauge the health-related impact of these tobacco products.
Source: Park S, Demeo D, Foreman M, et al. Menthol cigarette smoking in the COPDGene cohort: Relationship with COPD, comorbidities and CT metrics. Respirology. 2014.
Justin Caba is a reporter for Medical Daily focusing on nutrition, fitness, and all things athletic.
http://www.medicaldaily.com/taste-menthol-cigarettes-not-worth-lung-complication-risk-compared-regular-tobacco-309638