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E-cig boom leads to taxation, regulation questions

WOODBURY, Minn. (AP) — Stores that sell increasingly popular e-cigarettes are popping up around the Twin Cities, highlighting the lack of regulation or taxation of the tobacco alternative.
E-cigarettes are battery powered and produce a nicotine vapor. Owners of stores that sell the devices told the St. Paul Pioneer Press that demand skyrocketed in July when a state tax increase sent cigarette prices up to about $7.50 a pack.
“Sales were insane,” said Angie Griffith, who owns several Smokeless Smoking stores and kiosks.
The surging sales have left regulators scrambling to react. The federal Food and Drug Administration is expected to release regulations on e-cigarettes soon, but for now there are very few state or federal rules applying to the devices.
That’s raised concern that some varieties could serve as an introduction to nicotine for youths. Some come in flavors including root beer, and cookies and cream.
But some former traditional smokers said e-cigarettes helped them kick a tobacco habit. A new Smokeless Smoking store in Woodbury, which opened Nov. 18, has already become a social hub for e-puffers, with its dimly lit lounge with sofas, TVs, games and books.
Griffith said the ability to form friendships and impromptu support groups with fellow e-cigarette smokers is important in helping customers kick tobacco.
“Smoking” an e-cigarette involves pushing a button on the small metal cylinder, examining its tiny computer screen, applying drops of flavoring and keeping an eye on the battery, then inhaling and exhaling the vapor. The vaporized liquids come in standard varieties but can be custom-made. Flavors mimic brands of cigarettes including Marlboro and Camel.
Gus Menth, a White Bear Lake truck driver, smoked cigarettes for 15 years. He tried to quit with nicotine patches but got so frustrated he once popped one in his mouth and chewed it. He can still remember the exact date he successfully switched to e-cigs: Jan. 15, 2011.
“I was tired of smelling bad,” Menth said. “And the cost savings is incredible.”
The metal e-cigarette costs from $30 to about $200, but is reusable. Menth and his wife, who also smokes e-cigs, estimate they are saving about $170 a month since their switch.
Menth said his breathing has improved. “I can run and play with my kid now,” he said.
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Information from: St. Paul Pioneer Press
http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2013/11/30/health/ecigarettes-twin-cities

New E-cigarette shop opens in downtown Fargo

Fargo, ND (WDAY TV) – A new store opening to customers Friday on Broadway in Fargo hopes to tap into the growing business of electronic cigarettes.
E-cigarette sales hit the $500 million mark in 2012, and with that number expected to triple, Infinite Vapor hopes to get a piece of that $1.7 billion pie.
Kelsey Eaton- Manager, Infinite Vapor: “E-Cigarettes are a different way; an alternative to quitting smoking.
Cody Fruehling- First Infinite Vapor Customer: “Yeah, I’m addicted to the nicotine, but I’m also addicted to the feeling of smoking and that’s what the vapor offers.”
The E-cigarettes use flavored nicotine liquid to produce vapor that is then inhaled; therefore, no tobacco or tar is present.
Eaton: “A, they taste good, and B, they don’t smell, so you’re not smelly and it’s not all over your stuff and your hands don’t reek.”
With liquid flavors like banana and yummy gummy, public officials are concerned that E-cigarettes are catering to a younger crowd.
Robyn Litke Sall- Tobacco Prevention Coordinator, Fargo Public Health: “Sounds to me more like frozen yogurt flavor than it does E-cigarette flavor, so I really would strongly caution parents that this could be very attractive to their youth.”
With zero FDA regulation, E-cigarettes are allowed to be sold to minors, but Infinite Vapor manager Kelsey Eaton says they are taking the moral high ground.
Eaton: “We treat it just the same as any tobacco or nicotine product as in we take IDs. We don’t sell to anyone under 18.”
And just like traditional tobacco, E-cigarettes are banned in public places in North Dakota, while Minnesota still allows them.
The FDA is expected to place regulations on E-cigarettes in the near future.
http://www.wday.com/event/article/id/90738/

E-cigarette store to open in downtown Fargo

By: Dave Olson, INFORUM
FARGO – A chain of stores that began selling electronic cigarettes in the Twin Cities this past April is setting up a shop in downtown Fargo.
Bill Boldenow said he plans to open his Infinite Vapor store at 68 Broadway by Friday, but if that doesn’t happen, it’ll open “at the very latest the second week of December.”
Boldenow said the store will sell e-cigarettes and the e-juice that goes into them. E-cigarettes are pen-like devices that use a small battery and heating element to vaporize the e-juice, mimicking a cigarette.
While proponents such as Boldenow say e-cigarettes are safer than smoking, but some anti-smoking advocates are concerned the increasingly popular product isn’t regulated and has not been extensively tested.
Safe alternative?
E-juice typically contains nicotine along with some type of flavoring. When vaporized, e-juice is inhaled similar to the way smoke from a cigarette is inhaled, but without the carcinogens found in tobacco.
“We feel it’s a much safer alternative than tobacco, which we know is unsafe,” Boldenow said, adding that the e-juice Infinity Vapor sells is made in Minnesota and tested for consistency at a lab at St. Cloud State University.
“Infinity Vapor is a premium electronic cigarette shop that carries really high-quality products,” Boldenow said.
“A lot of the stuff you see out there these days – in gas stations and whatnot – are kind of a knockoff version,” he added.
Boldenow said e-juice nicotine levels can be adjusted to personal tastes, and he said many people who use e-cigarettes do so as a way to quit smoking.
“I want to promote people getting off of smoking,” he said. “I truly in my heart believe it is (a way to do that).”
Heather Nelson, part owner of the SnG Vapor store in Grand Forks, said more than a few of her customers kicked their smoking habit by turning to e-cigarettes.
“I’ve got a lot of people that (say), ‘I was smoking two packs a day for 30-plus years’ and in just a couple months they’ve gotten to a point where they are nicotine-free,” said Nelson, whose business has been operating in Grand Forks for about three years.
Nelson said the shop makes its own e-juice using a combination of four ingredients – nicotine; vegetable gelatin; coffee/tea flavorings; and pharmaceutical-grade propylene glycol.
Though propylene glycol is a chemical found in antifreeze, Nelson said it is a safe ingredient.
Regulation-free
But because e-juice is not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, it is difficult to say just how safe or unsafe a particular batch may be, said Robyn Litke Sall, a tobacco prevention coordinator at Fargo Cass Public Health.
“We don’t yet know what all is contained in e-cigarettes. We don’t know if the vapor is harmful or not,” Sall said, adding that because of the lack of information, many health officials are concerned about statistics that indicate use of e-cigarettes among young people has doubled in recent years. In 2011, the market for e-cigs was $2 billion worldwide, according to an estimate by an industry group.
Because e-cigarettes look much like regular smokes, some wonder if they could be a gateway to smoking, said Sall, who added that scientific evidence is lacking when it comes to claims e-cigarettes help people stop smoking.
“Until there might be such evidence, we certainly can’t endorse it, or use it as a cessation device,” Sall said.
Both Boldenow and Nelson said they will not sell products to people under 18, assertions that don’t quell Sell’s concerns. She said a store may have a policy against selling to people under 18, but there is no law that prevents a business from doing so.
If a business decides to change their policy due to factors like competition, “there’s no penalty there,” Sall said.
Competitive advantage
E-cigarettes were included in North Dakota’s recently passed ban on indoor smoking in public places, meaning anyplace that is smoke-free by law must also be vapor-free.
Minnesota’s state law banning smoking in workplaces, bars and restaurants does not include e-cigarettes, but some communities in the state have their own ordinances regulating such products.
Moorhead is a city with no e-cigarette regulations, and that might give businesses an edge over their competition on the North Dakota side of the Red River, said Jake Bruns, owner of Mick’s Office, a downtown Moorhead bar.
Bruns said few of his customers use e-cigarettes, which are already widely available at convenience stores in the area. But he said that might change with a store opening that is devoted to the devices.
“There could be some marketing opportunities there,” he said.
http://www.inforum.com/event/article/id/419678/group/homepage/

Study: Teens' E-Cigarette Use Promotes Heavy Tobacco Use

By: Jessica Berman
WASHINGTON — According to the first-ever study on the use of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, by young people, researchers have found that the devices, marketed as an alternative to real cigarettes, appear to fuel heavy smoking among youth.
E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that look like cigarettes and deliver a smokeless aerosol of nicotine, flavorings and other chemicals. They are promoted as a safer alternative to cigarettes and an aid to stopping smoking.
However, a new study looking at the use of electronic cigarettes in nearly 76,000 Korean teenagers found they are less likely to have succeeded in kicking the habit and that electronic cigarettes made them heavier smokers.
Stan Glantz directs the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco.  He is also the senior author of the study.
Glantz said that while there is evidence electronic cigarettes help a small percentage of adult smokers stop, the same is not true for adolescents, who he says are being bombarded with appealing ads.
“They are being marketed with flavors, with images of sex and independence, and also marketed with the claim they will help you quit smoking and, in fact, the kids who are trying to quit smoking were more likely to be using e-cigarettes. But, as I said before, [they are] much less likely to actually quit,” said Glantz.
Glantz said that the nicotine in e-cigarettes makes them addictive even though users do not inhale as many toxic chemicals. He also claimed that tobacco companies, which manufacture the devices, take advantage of the lack of regulation of e-cigarettes to try to hook new smokers.
“We have the kind of Wild West marketing that we did in the bad old days for cigarettes. And the kids are clearly responding to that, and youth use of e-cigarettes in Korea is going up very rapidly just as it did here in the United States,” said Glantz.
U.S. regulators report the number of middle and high school students who use e-cigarettes doubled from 2011 to 2012, to a total of 1.7 million students.
Regulations to ban the smokeless devices are being proposed in Chicago, which may become the first U.S. city to restrict the sale of electronic cigarettes.
The article on e-cigarette use among Korean teens is published in the Journal of Adolescent Health.
http://www.voanews.com/content/study-teens-e-cigarette-promotes-heavy-tobacco-use/1798525.html

U.S. Colleges and Universities Deserve an 'A' for Going Tobacco-Free

, Assistant Secretary for Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

Co-authored by
Cynthia Hallett, MPH
Executive Director
American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation
The Great American Smokeout (GASO), sponsored by the American Cancer Society, encourages smokers to quit for a day and plan to quit smoking for good. This year, celebrating GASO also involves recognizing the growing leadership of our nation’s colleges and universities in making campuses smoke- or tobacco-free.
Our physical environment affects the daily choices we make about life and health. For decades, such environments have promoted a cultural norm glamorizing tobacco use that has led to devastating outcomes. College and university campuses can prevent nicotine addiction among students by implementing tobacco-free campus policies and promoting healthy lifestyle choices.
As the 2012 Surgeon General’s Report Preventing Tobacco Use Among Youth and Young Adults illustrates, many lifestyle choices that lead to future health risk, including tobacco use, peak between 21 and 25 years of age. The number of smokers who started after age 18 has recently increased from 600,000 (2002) to 1 million (2010). This means that, ultimately, up to 1 million current college students could die prematurely from tobacco use.
In September of 2012, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), together with several key partners, launched the Tobacco Free College Campus Initiative (TFCCI) to encourage the voluntary adoption of tobacco-free policies at institutions of higher learning across the nation. It has been a remarkable year since the launch. Colleges and universities everywhere have launched campus conversations that remind their students, faculty and administration that the tobacco epidemic is far from solved. They have initiated inclusive dialogues about possible policy change options, and have considered new policies that could restore their campuses to places where health, not addiction, is the norm.
The Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR) Foundation, a non-lobbying, educational, nonprofit organization (501(c)3), creates comprehensive programs that support smoking prevention, the benefits of smoke-free air, and the right to breathe smoke-free air. The ANR Foundation has tracked, collected, and analyzed tobacco control laws around the country since the early 1980s. Each quarter, the ANR Foundation unveils updated information to communicate the current status of smoke-free air environments. Today, in honor of GASO, ANR Foundation has released the latest list of smoke- and tobacco-free schools.
When the TFCCI began in September 2012, 774 colleges and universities were smoke- or tobacco-free. Today, there are more than 1127 100% smoke-free campuses and 758 of those are 100% tobacco-free. We celebrate the dramatic rise in that number, not only because it represents a rapidly growing percentage of the 4,583 colleges and universities in the United States, but also because it reflects the improved health of students today that will reduce risk of illness and death tomorrow.
We can offer many resources for user-friendly information about tobacco prevention and cessation. Everyone who is interested in quitting should seek help from a tobacco cessation program such as smokefree.gov, 1-800-QUIT-NOW or through their health insurance plans. As a result of the Affordable Care Act, most private health insurance plans will now cover the cost of cessation interventions for tobacco users. HHS’ website,BeTobaccoFree.gov, represents another valuable resource that includes user-friendly information on the health impact of tobacco use, federal and state laws and policies, and the best guidance on how to quit. Also, January 2014 marks the 50th anniversary of the first Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking and Health. A new Report will highlight a half-century of progress in tobacco control and prevention, as well as present new data on the health consequences of tobacco use.
Deglamorizing and denormalizing tobacco use for adolescents and young adults can help our country reclaim a social norm of health and wellness. As we encourage our loved ones to quit today, let’s also recognize the leadership of colleges and universities around the country that will make our country stronger and healthier for the future.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-howard-k-koh/us-colleges-and-universit_b_4312131.html

E-cigarettes: Do benefits outweigh risks?

by Natalie Brand / KTVK
More and more tobacco companies are jumping into the “e-cigarette” market, considered the “wild, wild west,” since it’s without FDA regulations.
From celebrity commercials to candy flavors, some health officials worry who e-cigarette manufacturers may be targeting.
“You see all the commercials that cigarettes are so bad, which is true, then they say, it’s a new, safe alternative,” said Matt Majd who admitted e-cigarettes were popular at his high school.
“People think it’s cool to do it in class and try not to let teachers see,” said Majd who has also tried e-cigarettes himself.  “Just gives you somewhat of a buzz, somewhat of a head rush, kinda similar to the effect of cigarettes.”
“It’s still troubling to see some actors in the industry real actively trying to recruit kids to their product,” said Arizona Department of Health Services Director Will Humble.
Humble says the jury’s still out as to whether e-cigarettes will serve their purpose as a safer alternative for smokers, or inadvertently get a new generation hooked.
“What I don’t know yet is where electronic cigarettes lie on the scale; are there more benefits than risks?”
A recent CDC study found e-cigarette experimentation and use among middle and high school students doubled last year.  It’s too early to know if that will eventually lead them to smoking tobacco cigarettes.
“Once you’ve got a kid addicted to nicotine, now you’ve got an active potential smoker for the rest of their lives, because their brains get hardwired when they start smoking,” said Humble.
Craig Weiss, President and CEO of Scottsdale based NJOY says his company goes out of its way to play by the rules from verifying age to advertising to smokers and smokers only.
Former Surgeon General Richard Carmona of Tucson sits on NJOY’s Board of Directors.
“We’re not interested in people who are underage,” said Weiss.  He said his target is the public health epidemic of smoking.
“We feel we’re helping people,” said Weiss.  “Smokers are already addicted to nicotine, and that’s the only customer I’m interested in.”
Weiss said his end game is a place with no tobacco.
“We want there to be reasonable regulation by the FDA, so everyone is playing by the same rules,” said Weiss.
When asked if he fears e-cigarette commercials are glamorizing smokers:
“I think of it as advertising,” said Weiss.  “It’s important for us to communicate to our smokers that they have an alternative.”
But health leaders worry what could happen if this now billion dollar business is left unregulated.
“The potential is there for these products to really do a lot of good, I honestly believe that,” said Will Humble.  “But not if they’re going to go after kids, not if they’re going to go after people who don’t smoke.”
http://www.kvue.com/news/232829891.html

Utah Lawmakers endorse plan to hike smoking age to 21

By Lee Davidson | The Salt Lake Tribune
Legislators took a first step Wednesday toward raising Utah’s already highest-among-the-states smoking age, from 19 to 21. Committee endorsement of the proposal came despite lively arguments by even some cigarette opponents that the move would infringe on the personal liberty of adults.
“We have a responsibility to protect first and foremost the liberties of our citizens, not to protect them from harm that they may cause to themselves,” said Rep. Brian Greene, R-Pleasant Grove, one of five members of the Health and Human Services Interim Committee who voted against the bill.
But Sen. Stuart Reid, R-Ogden, the bill’s sponsor, said, “We make judgment calls about that all the time. Obviously, you wouldn’t advocate that we didn’t have any regulations, that we didn’t have any speed limits, that we didn’t inspect food.”
Reid added that Utah already bans drinking alcohol until age 21 — and argued that even more reason exists to also ban smoking until that age. “We know tobacco will kill people. You can drink and you’re not necessarily going to get sick or die from it.”
But Sen. Todd Weiler, R-Woods Cross, who voted against the bill, rejected the comparison.
“I think there is a huge difference between cigarettes and alcohol. Cigarettes, you are talking about someone harming themselves. Alcohol, we’re talking about someone getting behind the wheel of a car and killing a family.”
The legal age to buy, sell or possess tobacco in most states is 18, with four exceptions. It is 19 in Utah, Alaska, Alabama and New Jersey. Utah is not the only place looking at raising the smoking age. New York City just approved raising it to 21, as have some other cities nationally. Legislatures in Hawaii, New Jersey, Colorado and Texas are all expected to consider similar bills next year — as will Utah now that the interim committee endorsed it.
Testifying in favor of the bill were anti-smoking groups and state and local health departments. The only group that testified against it Wednesday were retailers who sell cigarettes, although several lawmakers — who all said they dislike cigarettes — raised concerns about interfering with freedom.
DavidPatton, executive director of the Utah Department of Health, said state studies show that most young teenagers obtain their cigarettes illegally from adults who themselves are just barely old enough to buy them legally.
“Ninety percent of legal adults that purchase tobacco for underage smokers are under age 21,” he said, so raising the smoking age likely also would reduce the number of teenagers who try smoking and become addicted.
http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/politics/57157897-90/adults-age-alcohol-bill.html.csp

Regulation push catching up with electronic cigarettes

By John Keilman and Mitch Smith, Chicago Tribune reporters
Jay Altman smoked cigarettes for 25 years before deciding a few months ago that for the sake of his wallet and his health, a change was in order.
But Altman didn’t quit — he switched.
The North Side insurance worker swapped his daily pack and a half of smokes for the vanilla-flavored nicotine aerosol of an electronic cigarette. He feels better these days, he said, and not just because he’s saving more than $100 a week.
“My friends have noticed a difference,” Altman said while sampling assorted flavors at Smoque Vapours, an e-cigarette shop in the Loop. “They’ll say, ‘You smell good,’ instead of, ‘You stink.'”
The fast-growing e-cigarette industry has hitched its future to such testimonials, pitching its product as a safer and cheaper alternative to tobacco cigarettes. So far the business has escaped the reach of regulators, but from Washington, D.C., to the Chicago suburbs, that is changing quickly.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration appears poised to label e-cigarettes a “tobacco product,” a distinction that would give the agency power over their marketing, manufacture and sale. North suburban Mundelein just passed an ordinance banning the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone younger than 18, and on Jan. 1 a similar law will take effect statewide.
Evanston, meanwhile, has gone even further, banning the use of e-cigarettes anywhere smoking is prohibited.
“There hasn’t been a whole lot of long-term research on this, but we really wanted to make sure we were on the front end to protect our residents,” said Carl Caneva, assistant director of Evanston’s health department.
The lack of regulation has turned e-cigarettes into a commercial Wild West, where basement chemists and giant corporations alike concoct mixtures that taste like everything from peach schnapps to Mountain Dew. The novel flavors concern anti-smoking advocates, who note that teen e-cigarette use recently doubled within a single year.
“I don’t think that there’s any question that flavors appeal to young people,” said Danny McGoldrick of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. “It’s just another way to help introduce them to the habit.”
Researchers aren’t sure of all the chemicals released by the products, but some say there’s ample reason for worry.
The American Lung Association, which favors strict regulation, cites a recent study that found chemicals such as formaldehyde and acetone in exhaled e-cigarette vapor.
“We’re very concerned because we don’t know what’s in e-cigarettes or what the health consequences of them might be,” said Erika Sward, the lung association’s assistant vice president for national advocacy. “Frankly, until the FDA begins its oversight of these products, I think everyone needs to proceed very cautiously.”
E-cigarettes use tiny atomizers to turn nicotine-infused liquids into an aerosol, which is inhaled by the user. They’ve been sold in the United States since the mid-2000s, but the Electronic Cigarette Industry Group says sales have boomed in recent years, turning the gadgets into a $2 billion-a-year business.
The group’s president, Eric Criss, said e-cigarettes are intended to be a safer alternative for people who already smoke.
“We feel very strongly that we not be taxed and regulated as a tobacco product because our goal as an industry is to distinguish ourselves from traditional tobacco cigarettes,” he said. “We believe there’s a ladder of harm. Cigarettes are at the top of that, and our goal is to get people to move down that ladder.”
The science behind that claim is far from settled. The industry points to research — some of it funded by e-cigarette interests — that shows the products to be less risky to users, sometimes called “vapers,” and bystanders alike. Robert West, a health psychology professor at University College London, maintains that a global switch from tobacco cigarettes to atomized nicotine would save millions of lives a year.
Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research & Education at the University of California at San Francisco, agreed that e-cigarettes appear to be less harmful than tobacco but said they’re hardly risk-free.
He said most smokers don’t give up tobacco cigarettes entirely when they use electronic ones, so their health doesn’t improve much. And while bystanders aren’t exposed to secondhand smoke, he said, initial research shows that they’re still inhaling nicotine, an addictive substance, along with toxic chemicals and ultrafine particles that can cause heart problems.
“Just because someone chooses to service their (nicotine) addiction by using an e-cigarette, that still doesn’t create a right for them to poison people in the neighborhood,” Glantz said.
The FDA says a federal appeals court has given it the power to regulate e-cigarettes as though they are tobacco products. The agency has a proposed regulation in the works, and while officials won’t say what it contains, public health advocates and industry representatives expect the FDA to assert its authority over e-cigarettes.
Many states are waiting for that to happen before deciding whether to incorporate e-cigarettes into smoking bans, but Glantz argues that new rules could take years to finalize and aren’t necessary for states to tighten their clean air laws.
Three states — North Dakota, New Jersey and Utah — already include e-cigarettes in their smoking bans, and about 100 cities and counties nationwide have taken similar steps, according to the American Nonsmokers’ Rights Foundation.
But Melaney Arnold, spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said the research on e-cigarettes’ secondhand effects is still too preliminary to act upon.
“It’s still evolving, and it will still (take) time until we know the total health effects,” she said.
Chicago Ald. Edward Burke, who often takes up health issues, has a proposed ordinance before the City Council to ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. He said he might try to amend it to make e-cigarettes subject to the city’s smoking ban.
“I think we certainly should apply the same regulations to e-cigarettes that we apply to regular cigarettes,” the 14th Ward alderman said.
For now, though, the devices exist in a mishmash of vague and confusing regulations. They’re not allowed to be used on airplanes, though the U.S. Department of Transportation doesn’t explicitly ban them. They’re not allowed in Chicago’s airports, though city ordinances are silent on the point.
“As a practical matter, airport staff does not determine if a cigarette that is being smoked is a tobacco cigarette or an e-cigarette,” said Karen Pride, spokeswoman for the Chicago Department of Aviation. “As such, the use of electronic cigarettes, as with tobacco cigarettes, is prohibited in the airports.”
While the city allows bar patrons to partake of e-cigarettes, taverns make their own rules. Declan’s Irish Pub in Old Town and Lange’s Lounge in Lakeview have no problems with the devices, but Joe’s Bar, a Goose Island establishment, says no.
“We don’t allow it inside because it promotes other people to take out their cigarettes and smoke them,” general manager Bob Casey said.
Despite the lack of clarity over e-cigarette use, several boutique shops selling the devices have sprung up in the city. Jared Yucht, owner of Smoque Vapours, said he started creating “e-liquids” in his basement when he stopped smoking. He opened his first store and lounge in Lakeview last spring and added a second location in the Loop this month.
He said he is proud of his safety precautions, carefully monitoring the nicotine levels of his products and refusing to sell to minors, though neither step is yet required by law.
“I don’t know anyone who owns another store who serves underage,” he said. “I have children and I wouldn’t want them taking stimulants at a young age. It’s an unwritten rule in the community that this is an adult activity for adults.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/ct-met-electronic-cigarettes-20131115,0,5010760.story?page=1

CDC: More teens smoking e-cigarettes, hookah

By RYAN JASLOW / CBS NEWS
More middle and high school students are smoking electronic cigarettes, hookahs and cigars, according to a new government report form the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
While rates for those tobacco products have increased, overall youth smoking rates haven’t declined at all, a concerning figure for health officials.
“We need effective action to protect our kids from addiction to nicotine,” Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, said in an agency press release.
For the new report, researchers combed data from the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey, a nationally-representative poll of about 25,000 students in grades six through 12 on their tobacco use habits and attitudes towards smoking.
They found recent e-cigarette use among high school students rose to 2.8 percent in 2012, up from 1.5 percent the year before. About 1.1 percent of middle school students reported using the products, up from 0.6 percent in 2011.

E-cigarette use among youths surges

In September, the CDC released a report that found the number of middle and high school students who ever used an e-cigarette doubled, from 1.4 percent and 4.7 percent of surveyed students in 2011 to 2.7 percent and 10 percent by 2012, respectively.
Hookah use was also looked at in the new report. The CDC finding smoking rates increased from 4.1 percent of high schoolers in 2011 to 5.4 percent by 2012.
Cigar use rose “dramatically” among black high school students, with 16.7 percent reporting using them, up from 11.7 percent in 2011 and a doubling of rates since 2009.
Included in cigars were flavored little cigars or cigarillos, which contain fruit or candy flavorings and tend to look similar to cigarettes. They are often cheaper because they are taxed at lower rates and can be sold individually.
Last month, the CDC also released a report on youth smoking rates for flavored little cigars, finding six percent of surveyed middle and high students said they had tried them.
E-cigarettes, hookahs, cigars and other “new” tobacco products are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, the CDC points out. Increases in the marketing and availability of these products — along with a misconception they’re safer than cigarettes — may be fueling these increases in kids.
“This report raises a red flag about newer tobacco products,” said Frieden. “Cigars and hookah tobacco are smoked tobacco — addictive and deadly.”
Overall, about 7 percent of middle school students reported smoking any tobacco product along with 23 percent of high school students, rates unchanged from 2011.
The new report was published Nov. 14 in the CDC’s journal Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
The FDA intends to propose a rule to tighten regulation of non-cigarette nicotine products like e-cigarettes. The authors also called for more tobacco-control measures implemented to these newer products, including increasing the price of them, using media campaigns aimed at curbing smoking, increasing access to services that help people quit and enforcing restrictions on advertising and promotion.
Under the Affordable Care Act, more Americans will qualify to coverage for tobacco cessation services, the CDC added.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-204_162-57612410/cdc-more-teens-smoking-e-cigarettes-hookah/

More U.S. Teens Try E-Cigarettes, Hookahs: Report

By Steven Reinberg, HealthDay Reporter – US News
(HealthDay News) — The rapidly growing use of electronic cigarettes, hookahs and other smoking alternatives by middle school and high school students concerns U.S. health officials.
While use of these devices nearly doubled in some cases between 2011 and 2012, no corresponding decline has been seen in cigarette smoking, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported Thursday.
“We have seen, between 2011 and 2012, a big increase in the percentage of middle- and high-school students who are using non-conventional tobacco products, particularly electronic cigarettes and hookahs,” said Brian King, a senior scientific adviser in CDC’s office on smoking and health.
These products are marketed in innovative ways on TV and through social media, he said. “So, it’s not surprising that we are seeing this increase among youth,” he added.
E-cigarettes and hookah tobacco come in flavors, which appeals to kids. And since hookahs are often used in groups, they also provide a social experience, which may be adding to their popularity, King said.
Teens may also believe that e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco, said Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco. However, nicotine is addictive and can hamper the developing brains of teens.
“This paper shows that the return of nicotine advertising to TV and radio, combined with an aggressive social media presence and use of flavors is promoting rapid uptake of electronic cigarettes by youth,” said Glantz.
The report, based on data from the 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey, was published in the Nov. 15 issue of the CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.
King said efforts are needed to curb use of these tobacco products and prevent other teens from ever trying them. “We know that 90 percent of smokers start in their teens, so if we can stop them from using tobacco at this point, we could potentially prevent another generation from being addicted to tobacco,” King noted.
Smoking is the leading cause of preventable death and disease in the United States, killing more than 1,200 people every day.
E-cigarettes simulate the experience of smoking without delivering smoke. They are shaped like cigarettes but users inhale a vaporized, nicotine-based liquid.
“Nicotine is an addictive drug that affects brain development, especially in adolescents, whose brains are still developing,” he said.
According to the report, from 2011 to 2012 use of e-cigarettes among middle-school students rose from 0.6 percent to 1.1 percent. Their use by high school students jumped from 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent.
Over the same period, hookah use among high schoolers jumped from 4.1 percent to 5.4 percent, the researchers found.
Currently, electronic cigarettes, hookah tobacco, cigars and certain other new tobacco products are not regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The FDA has said it intends to classify these products as tobacco products, putting them under the agency’s control.
The popularity of these new products hurts ongoing tobacco-prevention efforts, experts say. “This proliferation of novel tobacco products that are priced and marketed to appeal to kids are slowing our progress in reducing tobacco use among kids,” said Danny McGoldrick, research director for Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
“You have the marketing of electronic cigarettes that are using all the themes and tactics that have been used by cigarette companies for decades to market to kids, like flavors, the use of celebrities, the use of sports and entertainment, as well as glamour, sex and rebellion,” he said.
This is why the FDA needs to assert jurisdiction over all tobacco products, McGoldrick said.
Cigar use is also rising among adolescents. Their use by black high school students rose from about 12 percent to nearly 17 percent from 2011 to 2012, and since 2009 has more than doubled, according to the report.
Cigars and cigarettes were smoked by about the same number of boys in 2012 — more than 16 percent.
Cigars include so-called “little cigars,” which are similar in size, shape and filter to cigarettes, King said. But since they are taxed at lower rates than cigarettes, they are more affordable. “You can buy a single, flavored little cigar for mere pocket change, which could increase their appeal among youth,” he said.
Fruit and candy flavors, which are banned from cigarettes, are added to some of these little cigars, King said.
According to the CDC, about one in three middle- and high-school students who smoke cigars use flavored little cigars.
Every day, more than 2,000 teens and young adults start smoking. Smoking-related diseases cost $96 billion a year in direct health care expenses, according to the CDC.
More information
For more information on stopping smoking, visit the American Cancer Society.
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/news/articles/2013/11/14/more-us-teens-try-e-cigarettes-hookahs-report