Study Finds Climbing E-Cigarette Use Among Teens Requires Federal Regulations
VANCOUVER: Parents and doctors questioning teens about whether they smoke should also be asking if they’re using e-cigarettes, which could be a gateway to nicotine addiction later on, says a pediatrician who led a new study.
Dr. Michael Khoury’s research involved nearly 2,300 students in Grade 9 in the Niagara region of Ontario.
Over 10 per cent of them had used electronic cigarettes, said Khoury, though a national report funded by the Public Health Agency of Canada and released earlier this year suggested the rate of Grade 9 students who have tried e-cigarettes is even higher.
“The most common reason that three-quarters of them used it was to be cool, or it was fun and something new,” Khoury said about his research. “That’s really concerning because they’re clearly not using them for what they’re marketed as, which is as smoking cessation devices.”