Remember Joe Camel, the 1980s and ‘90s advertising mascot for Camel cigarettes? Or the Journal of the American Medical Association study that found children were just as familiar with the cartoon camel-man and his cigarettes as they were with Mickey Mouse? You might also recall the lawsuit that followed and how the ad campaign was eventually shut down because of Joe Camel’s appeal to children.<\/p>\n
E-cigarettes are this generation’s Joe Camel. With kid-friendly flavors like mango and cool mint, and intriguing shapes that can look like USB sticks or even toys, e-cigarettes are alluring to young people.<\/p>\n
In 2017 in Alaska, the number of high school students who had smoked at least one day in the last 30 days was at an all-time low — just 10 percent, nearly half the rate from a decade before, according to the Youth Behavior Risk Survey. That same year, however, 40 percent of high school students reported trying e-cigarettes at least once.<\/p>\n
[Hannan proposes new tax on vaping products]<\/a><\/ins><\/p>\n E-cigarette use has skyrocketed among youth, introducing a entire new generation to nicotine and possible further tobacco use. This is a serious public health concern for our youth.<\/p>\n What’s so dangerous about nicotine? No matter how it’s delivered, nicotine is highly addictive. E-cigarettes have helped some smokers quit traditional cigarettes, but e-cigarettes can deliver just as much nicotine or more, and have not been shown to be effective at breaking nicotine addictions.<\/p>\n A New England Journal of Medicine study found that e-cigarettes were more successful than other methods at getting smokers off cigarettes. However, after a year, 80 percent of participants who used e-cigarettes to quit smoking were still on nicotine, while only 9 percent of those who used other forms of nicotine replacement therapy (gums, patches, medication) still used nicotine.<\/p>\n