A new US study released Monday shows that the youth nowadays continues to vape due to the low costs of e-cigarettes, apart from their exciting flavors, which may be marketed as "pizza", "fairy floss" or even "cotton candy". The National Youth Tobacco Survey has revealed that about 16 percent of high school students were vaping in 2015.
Yale School of Medicine experts explained in an article published in Pediatrics that e-cigarettes are popular mainly due to their lower costs as well as the desire to "stop smoking". Yet, those who began to vape e-cigarettes in order to stop smoking were 14 times more likely to continue the practice.
Led by Krysten Bold, postdoctoral fellow, and Suchitra Krishnan-Sarin, professor of psychiatry, the Yale expert team studied e-cigarette use among the youth after six months, and discovered that 80 per cent of youngsters who were driven by the costs and their desire to stop smoking continued vaping.
"Increasing the cost of e-cigarettes might be one policy that could be used to reduce vaping in this age group. E-cigarette use is a major public health issue, and understanding use among youth is critical to inform youth-directed prevention efforts," Bold said.
Experts are examining evidence from a third longitudinal study conducted in 2015. They found that the battery-operated e-cigarettes that heat liquids with nicotine in order to release vapour, tend to draw smokers who can use them even in "smoking-banned" areas.
"E-cigarette use is a major public health issue, and understanding use among youth is critical to inform youth-directed prevention efforts," said Krishnan-Sarin.
