E-cigarette ads have significantly increased in recent years. A new study found out that young people who are reached by these ads have higher chances of starting smoking.
According to a study by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the e-cigarette ads use familiar themes of sex, rebellion and independence that largely appeals to today's youth. More exposure to these e-cigarette ads is likely to throw non-smokers into a habit of smoking.
Proliferation Of E-Cigarette Ads
Based on the study published by American Academy of Pediatrics, from 2011 to 2014, there has been an increased spending on e-cigarette ads from $6.4 million in 2011 to $115 million in 2014. These ads circulate on entertainment (television or movies), retail stores, and Internet sites.
Cigarette commercials have been banned since 1971. On the other hand, e-cigarette advertising remains unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
With the increased e-cigarette ads on television, the Internet and other medium, millennials who are exposed to these are enticed to try smoking. Among the 22,000 respondents of the CDC study, those who reported "sometimes" and "most of the time/always" exposed to e-cigarette ads show higher chances of starting smoking than those who "rarely/never" saw e-cigarette ads.
Importance Of Regulating E-Cigarette Advertising, Sales and Use
For the CDC, this calls the importance of state intervention, mass communication reinvention, right education and parental guidance. Contrary to the notion that e-cigarette smoking is less harmful than traditional smoking, its existing nicotine content still causes addiction, impedes brain progress and leads to constant tobacco use in the future.
"Our study strongly suggests that electronic cigarettes are not as safe as their marketing makes them appear to the public," said Dr. Jessica Wang-Rodriguez on a study conducted by the University of California as reported by The Telegraph. "We were able to identify e-cigarettes, on the whole, have something to do with increased cell death."
Because of the health implications of electronic smoking, CDC further suggests higher cost for e-cigarettes, age verification for e-cigarette websites, limitation of allowed e-cigarette stores to operate near schools and regulation of e-cigarette ads. As parents, it's also best to veer your children away from any paraphernalia that could influence them of e-cigarette use.
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