About Youth Tobacco Product Use and Increasing E-Cigarette Use

The following article was translated from a statement published on the United States Food and Drug Administration FDA website to draw attention to youth tobacco product use and increasing e-cigarette use .

Frequent electronic cigarette use among young people has been considered a major problem in America since 2015, prompting research and studies. Statements on e-cigarette use by the United States Food and Drug Administration, FDA, are particularly important. Part of the Department of Health and Human Services, the FDA aims to protect public health by overseeing the safety and effectiveness of drugs, vaccines and other biological products. It is also responsible for the safety and reliability of food supplies, cosmetics, dietary supplements and radiation-emitting electronics, and for tobacco regulation. Scott Gobblieb, the official making FDA statements on this issue, addressed important points in a statement on 7 June 2018. The points Dr. Gobblieb made on the official website, in his own words, were:

“Protecting our nation’s youth from the dangers of tobacco products is among the FDA’s most important responsibilities. We are trying to take the strongest necessary steps to ensure these products are not marketed or sold to our children or used by them. These efforts are the cornerstone of our comprehensive plan. Our active policy aims to prevent young people becoming addicted to cigarettes and break the cycle of tobacco addiction through successive generations.

Although young people use combustible tobacco products such as cigarettes less, we see an alarmingly high rate of e-cigarette use among them. We must do more for our youth. We must not overlook that, over the past several years, e-cigarettes have been the most commonly used tobacco product among both middle and high school students, and that in 2017, a total of 2.1 million young people used them.

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These figures are particularly important because youth nicotine exposure—from cigarettes or e-cigarettes—has a greater effect on the developing brain and may make it more susceptible to nicotine addiction later. In other words, the earlier the brain encounters nicotine, the stronger the addiction.

The first of our efforts to protect youth from nicotine and tobacco dangers is ensuring e-cigarettes and other tobacco products do not reach children in the first place. We issued numerous warning notices to retailers nationwide. We also tried to act against packaging elements appealing to children and facilitating sales, and will work to prevent misleading advertising and products.

Tobacco product use by any child is unacceptable, and we will take every opportunity to protect children and substantially reduce tobacco-related disease and death.”

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