E-Cigarettes Remain Available to More Than 16 Million American Children

iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — More than 16 million American children live in states where they can legally purchase electronic cigarettes, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says, despite the fact that those products may well be unsafe.

“We know e-cigarettes are not safe for youth,” Tim McAfee director of the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health says. “While [electronic nicotine delivery systems] may have the potential to benefit established adult smokers if used as a complete substitute for all smoked tobacco products, [they] should not be used by youth and adult non-tobacco users because of the harmful effects of nicotine and other risk exposures, as well as the risk for progression to other forms of tobacco use.”

The National Youth Tobacco Survey found that 4.5 percent of all high school students and 1.1 percent of middle school students used e-cigarettes within the 30 days prior to being surveyed in 2013. Ten states and the District of Columbia do not ban the sales of e-cigarettes to minors, with 16 million children under the age of 18 living in those states.

Additionally, 26 states and the District of Columbia have laws prohibiting smoking in restaurants, worksites and bars — but only three of those states, New Jersey, North Dakota and Utah, prohibit used of electronic nicotine delivery systems indoors.

“ENDS aerosol is not harmless water vapor; it can contain nicotine and other toxins,” Brian King, Ph. D., senior scientific advisor in the CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health said. “Exposure to nicotine can harm adolescent brain development and can be toxic to fetuses.”

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