E-Cig Use Among Louisiana Teens Now More Popular Than Tobacco Use?

The electronic cigarette has been touted as an alternative to smoking. Many people have misconstrued that message to be that e-cigarettes pose no health risks. This misconception is most likely the driving force behind the results of a new survey. This survey suggests that more teens are turning to electronic cigarettes than traditional tobacco cigarettes.

The annual Monitoring the Future report issued by the University of Michigan is a survey of over 40-thousand 8th, 10th and 12th grade students. In that report researchers found that for the first time in the history of the report more young "smokers" are turning to e-cigs over traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Authorities in Louisiana believe that is also the case for smokers in Louisiana. Caroline Brazeel is Health promotions director for the Department of Health and Hospitals in Louisiana,

"Consistently, over the last several years, Louisiana teens and youth have a higher prevalence of using all tobacco products versus the national trends."

Brazeel's comments were reported  by the Louisiana Radio Network. She also suggested in other comments that the strong appeal of e-cigarettes to younger users was also a product of marketing.

"Things like flavored e-cigarettes are something that's commonly cited in the literature as being something that the industry has tried to do to appeal to a younger audience."

Brazeel and other health care officials did express concern over potential health risks associated with e-cigs. Among those concerns was the fact that the electronic cigarettes could be just as habit forming as their traditional counterparts.

Currently Louisiana law does not allow the sale or use of e-cigarettes by anyone under the use of 18. There are other proposals that are being considered by lawmakers to make these so called safer smokes harder to get by minors.