E-Cigarette Use More Than Doubles Among US Students - East Idaho News

E-Cigarette Use More Than Doubles Among US Students

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Getty 022813 ECigarette?  SQUARESPACE CACHEVERSION=1378438387563iStockphoto/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Electronic cigarette use by middle school and high school students doubled in 2012, according to a new report by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

The percentage of high school students that reported using an e-cigarette rose from 4.7 percent in 2011 to 10 percent in 2012. The number of high school students using the product within the past 30 days also saw a jump from 1.5 percent to 2.8 percent.

“The increased use of e-cigarettes by teens is deeply troubling,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a statement. “Nicotine is a highly addictive drug. Many teens who start with e-cigarettes may be condemned to struggling with a lifelong addiction to nicotine and conventional cigarettes.”

Electronic cigarettes are battery-powered and supply doses of nicotine and other additives to the user. The devices are unregulated by the Food and Drug Administration and in most states, there are no restrictions on sales to minors.

Use also doubled with middle school students. In total, more than 1.78 million middle and high school students in American had tried e-cigs.

More than three-quarters of those surveyed who used e-cigarettes within the past 30 days also smoked conventional cigarettes in the same time frame.

The CDC notes serious concern for the increase in use among youth due to nicotine’s potentially negative impact on adolescent brain development.

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