E-cigarette use among teenagers is growing in the U.S., and Hawaii teens take up e-cigarette use at higher rates than their mainland counterparts, a new study by University of Hawaii Cancer Center researchers has found. The findings come as e-cigarettes grow in popularity and the Food and Drug Administration is considering how to regulate their sale. Some public health officials are concerned that e-cigarettes may be recruiting a new generation of young cigarette smokers¹ who otherwise might not take up smoking at all, and the study's results bolster² this position.

 

Data from the study published in the journal Pediatrics showed that nearly 30 percent of the more than 1,900 teens surveyed in Hawaii had tried e-cigarettes, and of those, 17% were using e-cigarettes only. The overall rate is about three times larger than previously³ reported in U.S. studies in 2011 and 2012, which showed rates of 4.7 percent and 10 percent respectively. Additionally, very few adolescents in the national studies are e-cigarette only users.

 

The Hawaii teens were 14 and 15 years old and surveyed in public and private schools in 2013. The survey questions assessed e-cigarette and cigarette use, alcohol and marijuana use, and psychosocial risk factors for substance use. Teenagers who used only e-cigarettes were intermediate in levels of risk and protective factors between nonusers and those who used both cigarettes and e-cigarettes. This raises a question about whether e-cigarettes are recruiting low-risk youth (who would otherwise not try smoking) to tobacco product use.

 

Researchers also found: 12% used both e-cigarettes and cigarettes; 3% used cigarettes only; 68% did not use either e-cigarettes or cigarettes; 96% of the participants were aware of e-cigarettes; 67% considered e-cigarettes to be healthier than cigarettes

 

Dr. Thomas Wills, PhD, the interim⁴ director of the UH Cancer Center's Prevention and Control Program, said researchers aren't sure why the rate of e-cigarette use is so high among teens in Hawaii. The health benefits and risks of e-cigarettes remain under debate, but Wills cautioned parents and teens.

 

"You have to think carefully about the risks and benefits of using either tobacco or nicotine⁵, which is known to be an addictive⁶ substance," he said. "A lot of teens think it is easy to quit smoking but it isn't true. It's hard for anybody to quit."

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