They may be helping you kick your smoking habit, but are
those same electronic cigarettes creating a new allure to an old bad habit for
teens and children? We are all more than aware of the horrible side effects of
smoking; we've seen the ads, we've heard the horror stories, but quitting is
always easier said than done. To make it easier, we try to come up with new and
enticing products to encourage us to quit. I mean, what could be better than a
cherry flavored “cigarette,” with the nicotine fix and none of the smoke and
tar?
Unfortunately these same enticing products are also just as
much so to middle and high school students who have never smoked before,
possibly creating a new bad habit all its own. The percentage of students from
6 to 12 grade who have ever used e-cigarettes more than doubled last year in
comparison to the previous. 6.8% of students admitted to trying the devices,
from 3.3% in 2011. 2.1% even admin to using them regularly, compared to 1.1% in
2011. With a wide variety of flavors and colors, it's not hard to see why they've been more appealing to the younger crowd.
The larger issues with child use of these devices are: 1) we
don’t know about any long term side effects that may become associated with
this form of nicotine intake and 2) these may be as addicting as regular
cigarettes and act as a gateway drug to a lifelong cigarette addition. We don’t
want to steer our teens back towards cigarettes, especially with teen smoking
habits falling.
As of now, only 11 states have age-restrictions on
e-cigarettes, making them easily accessible. Make sure to talk with your
teens/children and let them know that they can be harmful, too. They should
only be used as a tool to help friends and family members quit smoking: not as
a recreational habit for teens who never have.
Posted on Sep 13 2013 10:44AM
By LIFamilies
