e-cigarette use among kids skyrocketing in Utah; levels much higher than among adults

Nearly one third of Utah youth who • used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days report that they never tried conventional cigarettes
 
Is this to say that 2/3 of Utah’s youth who used e-cigs in the past 30 days also used regular tobacco products and or cigarettes??
 
Phil G.
 
Phillip Gardiner, Dr. P. H.
 
Policy and Regulatory Sciences
Nicotine Dependence and Neurosciences
Program Officer
 
Tobacco Related Disease Research Program
University of California Office of the President
300 Lakeside Drive, 6th Floor
Oakland, CA 94612-3550
 
Ph. (510) 987-9853
Fx. (510) 835-4740
mailto:[email protected]";phillip.gardiner@ucop.edu
 
url. http://www.trdrp.org";www.trdrp.org

Higher use among adolescents than adults in Utah is not surprising and will most likely increase as the third generation of E Cigarettes come to the state such as Vuse (RJR) which began test marketing in Colorado in August and quickly took 66% of total E Cigarette sales.  RJR is going national this year with Vuse and Mark Ten, the PM, version which is in test market in Indianna and will likely follow.
 
Both employ a microchip to regulate the aerosol for puff consistency, smaller particle size and less dense clouds of particles likely to enhance deep lung deposition. This will likely lead to rapid arterial absorption something the first and second generation products have had difficulty with resulting in a nicotine delivery deficits.  
 
The Vuse TV ad is geared for the I Phone generation.   
I tried Mark Ten to test the aerosol and after 40 years of quitting found it tasted like cream cheese with Valium.  Without realizing it I placed it in the passengers seat of my car and found myself reaching for it was I was stressed. Be careful!!
But if E Cigarettes are safe maybe we need to give the youth of today some pleasure to offset the many stresses they face with the demands on them such as high academic performance or being bullied in School. 
 
Regulation of the product requires regulation of the design and constitutents as well as public use, marketing and youth access. Product regulation should prevent high abuse liability from deep nicotine lung deposition.    This is done by FDA for nicotine inhalers and seems as an obvious action for E Cigarettes. The more these products innovate and are introduced into the market place,  the more the FDA's ability to set pre market approval standards will diminish.
Arguing toxicity is where the industry wants the debate to go while avoiding discussion of potential for abuse and dual use with cigarettes. 
States should assert their drug authority in the absence of FDA entering the field and adopt the same standard that exists for nicotine inhalers.
Youth access laws have questionable effectiveness and clean air policies may face legal challenges that void them. 
While kids in Utah and other states "vape" the fiddles continue to be played in DC.
Strong state product legislation is needed now!!
 
Greg Connolly    
 
 
    
 
  

The number of e-cigarrette usage from middle to high schools will rise as http://www.alternatesmoking.com";popularity of flavored e-cigarettes rises in the country.  It could be a fad or just like the 50's and 60's when teenager smoking risen.  All I can say is that e-cigarettes are way more safer than traditional cigarettes.

The Utah data shows that many e-cigarette users among kids have never smoked a cigarette.