December 19, 2014 – More Tobacco Use

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Anchor lead: Tobacco use among youth is increasing according to federal data, Elizabeth Tracey reports

Smoking is a habit that has declined in popularity over the last couple of decades, largely due to public health efforts to bring awareness to just how harmful the habit is, and not just to the person who chooses to smoke.  Now e-cigarettes are threatening to undermine those gains, the national youth tobacco survey suggests.  Enid Neptune, a lung expert at Johns Hopkins, describes the implications.

Neptune: What’s concerning about this data is it suggests that the falls in tobacco use over the last 15 to 20 years are being offset by these newer tobacco products., and this increase in dual use among our children. And therefore our federal and state regulation and policy have to assume a protective stance, because it does seem that the youth are a very vulnerable population in terms of these newer products and also with conventional cigarettes.   :26

Neptune suggests that parents urge legislators to protect their children from becoming the next generation of big tobacco addicts.  At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.