Energy & Particles
E-Cigarettes Still Smokers Favorite
Brooke Miller
First Posted: Jul 23, 2012 07:02 AM EDT
A new study that is being published in the American Journal of Public Health reveals that 40.2 percent of the Americans have heard of e-cigarettes and over 70 percent believe they are less harmful than regular cigarettes. In addition, current smokers are more likely to use e-cigarettes than non-smokers. This is the first nationally representative study to look at awareness and prevalence of these products.
E-cigarettes have off lately gained attention in the media, public health and public policy arenas. They are formally known as Electronic Nicotine Delivery System is not a cigarette but a drug delivery device.
"The data suggest that younger smokers are more likely to have ever tried an e-cigarette," said Jennifer Pearson, PhD, Research Investigator at the Schroeder Institute at Legacy. "We don't know why younger smokers are more likely to try e-cigarettes, but this highlights the need for more information on the health and behavioral consequences of exclusive 'vaping' and dual use with combustible tobacco products."
In order to the conduct the study, the researchers from the Legacy and its Steven A. Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies looked at results on e-cigarette awareness, use, and harm perceptions from more than 6,000 adult participants in two national surveys.
The researchers noted that, the overall e-cigarette use is still relatively low, but the awareness of e cigarette is high.
The researchers said that, the current smokers are several times more likely to have tried an e-cigarette than non smokers. There would some reasons for this, including that e-cigarette are perceived as safer than regular cigarettes, they are used as a cessation device or used to avoid smoke-free indoor air laws.
In response to a 2010 court decision, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signalled that it will move to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products rather than drug delivery devices; however, these products are as yet unregulated, raising serious concerns for public health, since they have poor quality control standards and contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance.
"Given the poor quality control of these products, consumers are taking unknown risks by using e-cigarettes, with little proven new benefits," said David Abrams, PhD, Executive Director of the Schroeder Institute at Legacy. "Until adequate research and regulation is in place, smokers should be wary of using e-cigarettes, and smokers who want to quit should, instead, pursue research-proven effective cessation tools, such as nicotine replacement products, telephone quit lines and Web-based cessation services, as well as non-nicotine pharmacotherapies like bupropion and varenicline," Abrams added.
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First Posted: Jul 23, 2012 07:02 AM EDT
A new study that is being published in the American Journal of Public Health reveals that 40.2 percent of the Americans have heard of e-cigarettes and over 70 percent believe they are less harmful than regular cigarettes. In addition, current smokers are more likely to use e-cigarettes than non-smokers. This is the first nationally representative study to look at awareness and prevalence of these products.
E-cigarettes have off lately gained attention in the media, public health and public policy arenas. They are formally known as Electronic Nicotine Delivery System is not a cigarette but a drug delivery device.
"The data suggest that younger smokers are more likely to have ever tried an e-cigarette," said Jennifer Pearson, PhD, Research Investigator at the Schroeder Institute at Legacy. "We don't know why younger smokers are more likely to try e-cigarettes, but this highlights the need for more information on the health and behavioral consequences of exclusive 'vaping' and dual use with combustible tobacco products."
In order to the conduct the study, the researchers from the Legacy and its Steven A. Schroeder Institute for Tobacco Research and Policy Studies looked at results on e-cigarette awareness, use, and harm perceptions from more than 6,000 adult participants in two national surveys.
The researchers noted that, the overall e-cigarette use is still relatively low, but the awareness of e cigarette is high.
The researchers said that, the current smokers are several times more likely to have tried an e-cigarette than non smokers. There would some reasons for this, including that e-cigarette are perceived as safer than regular cigarettes, they are used as a cessation device or used to avoid smoke-free indoor air laws.
In response to a 2010 court decision, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration signalled that it will move to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products rather than drug delivery devices; however, these products are as yet unregulated, raising serious concerns for public health, since they have poor quality control standards and contain nicotine, a highly addictive substance.
"Given the poor quality control of these products, consumers are taking unknown risks by using e-cigarettes, with little proven new benefits," said David Abrams, PhD, Executive Director of the Schroeder Institute at Legacy. "Until adequate research and regulation is in place, smokers should be wary of using e-cigarettes, and smokers who want to quit should, instead, pursue research-proven effective cessation tools, such as nicotine replacement products, telephone quit lines and Web-based cessation services, as well as non-nicotine pharmacotherapies like bupropion and varenicline," Abrams added.
See Now: NASA's Juno Spacecraft's Rendezvous With Jupiter's Mammoth Cyclone