Use of E-Cigarettes Exceeds Traditional Smoking among Teens

E-Cigarettes, once described as a sure aid in helping smokers kick off their habit are becoming more and more of an issue now. The use of traditional cigarettes has come down remarkably; the steep rise in use of e-cigarettes in teens is worrying.

Researchers who were rejoicing as tobacco smoking in teens has fallen to new lows, researchers are worried about increased use of e-cigarettes in teens. This is for the first time an attempt has been made to measure the use of e-cigarettes in the teens.

9% of the 8^th graders have said that they had used an e-cigarette in the preceding month. Only 4% reported that they have smoked a traditional cigarette. These figures were released by the National Institutes of Health on Tuesday.

The survey reveals that 16% of the 10^th graders had used an e-cigarette in the preceding month and 17% of the high school seniors said they had smoked an e-cigarette in the preceding month. Traditional smoking has fallen rapidly and stood at 7 percent of 10th-graders and 14 percent of 12th-graders.

The survey which encompasses 41000 students was done under the aegis of Michigan professor Lloyd Johnston, who leads the Monitoring the Future survey. John said that his biggest worry is the tremendous progress made in the last two decades to bring down smoking can come to naught if traditional smoking is replaced by increased use of e-cigarettes.

For the first time, Cigarette smoking fell to the single digits with 8% students saying that they smoked in the preceding months. In 1997 this figure was 28%.

E-Cigarettes have been dubbed as a lesser evil and cause less harm when compared with traditional smoking. Smoking conventional cigarettes makes the user inhale a number of unwanted and often carcinogenic components besides nicotine. E-Cigarettes have a reservoir filled with nicotine which is vaporized and the vapors inhaled by the user. It is battery operated and has been touted by its protagonists as an effective tool to kick off the habit. However the possibility of addiction is always there.