The surgeon general’s latest report should spur state and local action
Last week, the surgeon general issued a report on the hazards of electronic cigarettes, the first of its kind. Of particular note is that e-cigarette use has increased 900 percent among youths nationwide over the past five years.
In Allegheny County, according to a Pennsylvania survey, 25 percent of 10th-graders and 28 percent of 12th-graders smoke e-cigarettes compared to a range in other counties of 20 percent to 27 percent. In addition to exposing youth to nicotine, e-cigarette use is highly correlated with the use of other tobacco products, and recent research suggests that e-cigarettes can act as a gateway to cigarette use.
E-cigarette smoking, which includes vaping, involves inhaling an aerosol. This aerosol is not harmless, contrary to claims of the e-cigarette industry. It often contains nicotine, a tobacco product that is highly addictive and harmful to the developing adolescent brain and to pregnant women and fetuses. E-cigarette aerosols can contain a variety of other chemicals, including carbonyl compounds and volatile organic compounds, which are harmful to health and not approved for inhalation.
The e-cigarette industry has heavily marketed to young people using many of the same techniques employed to attract young people to cigarettes years ago. Flavors such as bubble gum and cotton candy and glamorous advertising are tactics specifically targeting youth.
Yes, e-cigarettes may be used by smokers as a less harmful alternative to smoking, but they are not risk-free. Especially worrying is nicotine, an addictive substance that can set the stage for lifetime addiction and future cigarette use.
The surgeon general’s report urges states and local governments to take action, such as including e-cigarettes in existing smoke-free policies. More than 500 localities and states already have done so.
The Allegheny County Health Department now has acted to join other jurisdictions. In October, the Board of Health passed a regulation to prohibit e-cigarettes from smoke-free indoor spaces, but it will not go into effect until it is approved by county council as an ordinance.
E-cigarettes are not covered by Pennsylvania’s Clean Indoor Air Law. We support a more comprehensive law that encompasses e-cigarettes, but, given the vacuum at the state level, county regulations are a common-sense step in the right direction.
We applaud cigarette smokers’ efforts to quit, and e-cigarettes might someday be approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a cessation strategy. Still, we are greatly concerned about the impact of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes on youth and children, and on those who don’t smoke but are forced to inhale emissions second-hand.
We urge Allegheny County residents to support local efforts to limit the use of e-cigarettes in indoor public places where smoking lit tobacco products already is prohibited.
Karen Hacker is director of the Allegheny County Health Department. Lawrence R. John is president of the Allegheny County Medical Society. Both are medical doctors.
Resource:http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2016/12/16/E-cigarettes-are-dangerous-too/stories/201612160064
Last week, the surgeon general issued a report on the hazards of electronic cigarettes, the first of its kind. Of particular note is that e-cigarette use has increased 900 percent among youths nationwide over the past five years.
In Allegheny County, according to a Pennsylvania survey, 25 percent of 10th-graders and 28 percent of 12th-graders smoke e-cigarettes compared to a range in other counties of 20 percent to 27 percent. In addition to exposing youth to nicotine, e-cigarette use is highly correlated with the use of other tobacco products, and recent research suggests that e-cigarettes can act as a gateway to cigarette use.
E-cigarette smoking, which includes vaping, involves inhaling an aerosol. This aerosol is not harmless, contrary to claims of the e-cigarette industry. It often contains nicotine, a tobacco product that is highly addictive and harmful to the developing adolescent brain and to pregnant women and fetuses. E-cigarette aerosols can contain a variety of other chemicals, including carbonyl compounds and volatile organic compounds, which are harmful to health and not approved for inhalation.
The e-cigarette industry has heavily marketed to young people using many of the same techniques employed to attract young people to cigarettes years ago. Flavors such as bubble gum and cotton candy and glamorous advertising are tactics specifically targeting youth.
Yes, e-cigarettes may be used by smokers as a less harmful alternative to smoking, but they are not risk-free. Especially worrying is nicotine, an addictive substance that can set the stage for lifetime addiction and future cigarette use.
The surgeon general’s report urges states and local governments to take action, such as including e-cigarettes in existing smoke-free policies. More than 500 localities and states already have done so.
The Allegheny County Health Department now has acted to join other jurisdictions. In October, the Board of Health passed a regulation to prohibit e-cigarettes from smoke-free indoor spaces, but it will not go into effect until it is approved by county council as an ordinance.
E-cigarettes are not covered by Pennsylvania’s Clean Indoor Air Law. We support a more comprehensive law that encompasses e-cigarettes, but, given the vacuum at the state level, county regulations are a common-sense step in the right direction.
We applaud cigarette smokers’ efforts to quit, and e-cigarettes might someday be approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a cessation strategy. Still, we are greatly concerned about the impact of both cigarettes and e-cigarettes on youth and children, and on those who don’t smoke but are forced to inhale emissions second-hand.
We urge Allegheny County residents to support local efforts to limit the use of e-cigarettes in indoor public places where smoking lit tobacco products already is prohibited.
Karen Hacker is director of the Allegheny County Health Department. Lawrence R. John is president of the Allegheny County Medical Society. Both are medical doctors.
Resource:http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/2016/12/16/E-cigarettes-are-dangerous-too/stories/201612160064
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