SAN ANTONIO – Electronic cigarettes have been a popular commodity since their introduction to the U.S. nine years ago, and have now caught the full attention of one government organization in its most recent study.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, about 2.4 million middle and high school students were “current” -- defined as having been used in the past 30 days -- users of e-cigarettes in 2014.
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Coincidentally in the same year, Oxford Dictionaries named “vape” the international word of the year, which is chosen based on the amount of interest during a given year.
Advertisement spending has rapidly increased, from $6.4 million in 2011 to $115 million in 2014, according to the CDC. The report also states about 69 percent of middle and high school students were exposed to e-cigarette advertisements in retail stores, on the Internet, in magazines/newspapers, or on TV/movies. The report suggests the exposure to e-cigarette ads may be contributing to increases in use among youth.
For Dr. Ryan Van Ramshorst, a San Antonio pediatrician at University Health System, this has been a growing concern, especially among his younger patients. He expressed the need for restrictions on how the industry advertises their products to the younger generation.
“Lots of the advertisements that you might see on posters, billboards, (and) on the Internet are very reminiscent of the ads used by the tobacco industry in the ‘70s with Joe Camel and other cartoons,” Van Ramshorst said. “And there’s even flavors that I think are targeted at youth. You have flavors like tooty fruity, and cookies ‘n’ cream, and gummy bear, that are definitely going to appeal to a younger audience.”
The industry has portrayed e-cigarettes as being a healthier alternative for inhaling nicotine versus the additional toxins found in a traditional cigarette.
Ramshorst said to some extent, this might be very true. However, nicotine has been found to be one of the most addictive substances that affect receptors in the brain. Young teens that find the urge to vape may be the ones most affected by the habit-forming substance, he said.
“There are pleasurable effects of nicotine (and) some people say it helps with the anxiety (or) it helps them feel good because it works on the brain. The teenage brain is still developing and so they are more susceptible to getting addicted to nicotine,” Ramshorst said.
Money spent on e-cigarette ads in Texas may be wasted, after Gov. Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 97 into law in May 2015. One of its key points to prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
Richard Tisdale, owner of Texas Vape Stores, said his sole purpose for starting his business was to help people quit smoking, not selling as much product as possible.
As for sweeter flavors that could garner interest in a younger audience, he expressed how much adults enjoy the flavors.
“Yes they’re flavors, but the adults love the flavors and these flavors aren’t for kids. They’re for adults to quit smoking,” Tisdale said. “Also a lot of the ladies that come in say at night, when they get hungry, they’ll vape a little bit of a cereal or some (other flavor) that kills their appetite.”
Even though vape stores legally could have sold to minors before the bill was signed into law – which took effect Oct. 1, 2015 – it was an unwritten law for Tisdale’s two locations and some of the other vape stores in the city to never sell to people under 18.
“I adopted a granddaughter and I would not have wanted for her going into an e-cigarette store when she was 16 or 15 and getting in the habit of an e-cigarette,” Tisdale said. “An e-cigarette is supposed to get you out of the habit of smoking.”
Ramshorst and Tisdale both agreed that more states should have a standard law, much like the same restrictions as Texas. However, the obvious gateway for young teens to get a hold of an e-cigarette is through an online purchase.
In the state of Texas, online vendors are only required to use a method of shipping that requires an adult signature upon delivery. According to the CDC, 10.5 million youth were exposed to e-cigarette ads through the Internet – second highest to the 14.4 million that were exposed at retail stores – in which the report expressed the idea of requiring all e-cigarettes to be sold only through face-to-face transactions, not on the Internet.