Report Raises Concerns E-Cigarettes Could Be Hindering Efforts to Reduce Tobacco Use in the U.S.
In a 19 November 2020 press release by Matthew Myers of the US Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids worries that a recent US CDC “Report Raises Concerns E-Cigarettes Could Be Hindering Efforts to Reduce Tobacco Use in the U.S.”
The US CDC report of 2019 smoking “shows that the overall number of U.S. adults who use any tobacco product increased from 47.4 million in 2017 to 50.6 million in 2019.
It is particularly concerning that e-cigarette use was highest among young adults aged 18-24 (9.3%), with over half (56%) of these young adults reporting that they had never smoked cigarettes. E-cigarette use among young adults increased by 79% between 2017 and 2019 (5.2% to 9.3%). Together with the meteoric rise in youth e-cigarette use in recent years, this is further evidence that e-cigarettes are introducing a new generation of young people to tobacco use and putting them at risk of nicotine addiction. The cause of the problem is clear: E-cigarette makers like Juul and its copycats have lured young people with appealing flavors and hooked them with massive doses of nicotine.”
Note: Use of any tobacco product in the US is going up because of e-cigarette use among adults, especially young adults who had never smoked before.
https://www.tobaccofreekids.org/press-releases/2020_11_19_cdc-e-cigarettes
Stephen Hamann
