E-cigarettes threaten the decades of progress that has been made to shrink tobacco use in the United States, according to the US surgeon general's report, the first federal government review of the public health impact of e-cigarettes on young people released on Tuesday.
The report contends that e-cigarette use has been increasing in the country and that the most common reasons for youngsters to pick up the habit are curiosity, opportunity to avoid indoor smoking restrictions and perception of them being a less harmful alternative to conventional cigarettes.
The report also finds the e-cigarette industry (dominated by traditional tobacco companies) complicit in luring young users to tobacco by employing questionable tactics.
"Companies are promoting their products through television and radio advertisements that use celebrities, sexual content, and claims of independence to glamorize these addictive products and make them appealing to young people," said Thomas Frieden, director of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in the report's foreword.
It also noted a difference in motivation among people from different age groups who took up e-cigarettes. "Although adults report using e-cigarettes as a cessation device, the evidence supporting the effectiveness of e-cigarettes as an aid for quitting conventional cigarettes remains unproven and nonexistent among youth," the report said.
The report recommends various steps for combating e-cigarette use among young people:
- Incorporating e-cigarettes into smoke-free policies
- Preventing youth access to e-cigarettes
- Significant increases to taxes and prices affiliated with e-cigarettes.
"Preventing tobacco use in any form among youth and young adults is critical to ending the tobacco epidemic in the United States" US surgeon general Vivek Murthy said, according to Guardian.
Sylvia Burwell, secretary at the US Department of Health and Human Services, also agreed with the findings of the report and wrote:"The findings from this report reinforce the need to support evidence-based programs to prevent youth and young adults from using tobacco in any form, including e-cigarettes...The health and wellbeing of our nation's young people depend on it."
