Urgent Need to Control Promotion and Sale of E-Cigarettes among Children

A survey was carried out involving more than 16,000 teenagers in north-west England. The results unveiled that one in five students aged between 14 and 17 has bought or tried e-cigarettes.

This has led scientists to ask for urgent controls on the promotion and sale of e-cigarettes to children. The poll unveiled that nearly one in 20 teenagers who bought or tried e-cigarettes have never smoked conventional cigarette before.

It indicates that vaping has become a new thing to try among teenagers. However, the survey could not unveil who among them became long-term users of e-cigarettes or the devices were used to assist them quitting traditional tobacco smoking.

Electronic cigarettes are considered to be less dangerous than conventional tobacco products because the former provides nicotine without the cancer-causing chemicals that are found in cigarette smoke.

It is considered that the device might help in quitting smoking. But some researchers are concerned that people will become addicted to nicotine present in e-cigarettes. The researchers are unaware of the long-term health consequences of vaping.

The Liverpool survey published in the journal BMC Public Health has a strong link between e-cigarettes and alcohol use. The survey found that under-aged drinkers were more prone to e-cigarettes than non-drinkers.

In the case of non-smokers, binge drinkers were four times more likely to have purchased and tried e-cigarettes. Survey's co-author Mark Bellis, Director of policy, research and development for Public Health Wales, said that one thing they have noticed after conducting the survey and that is e-cigarettes seem to be another drug to experiment with.

"We are seeing an awful lot of people who are both smokers and e-cigarette users rather than ex-smokers. They are more used by people who are experimenting with other drugs, including binge drinking alcohol", affirmed Bellis.