Princess Health and Youth injuries from e-cigarettes spike; FDA is starting to regulate them, but study authors say not enough to protect children. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Youth injuries from e-cigarettes spike; FDA is starting to regulate them, but study authors say not enough to protect children. Princessiccia

children's health e-cigarettes federal legislation research vaping

Gusty 18:00 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The number of young children swallowing or being exposed to the liquid nicotine used in electronic cigarettes has "skyrocketed," jumping 1,500 percent from 2012 to 2015, one co-author of a recent study says.

"E-cigarettes and liquid nicotine can cause serious poisoning, and even death, among young children," Dr. Gary Smith, co-author of the study, told Randy Dotinga for HealthDay. "Like other dangerous poisons, they should be kept out of sight and reach of children, preferably in a locked location."

The research, published online May 9 in the journal Pediatrics, follows an announcement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will now regulate e-cigarettes. The rule bans the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, requires health warnings on all packaging and advertisements and requires manufacturers to get federal approval on all products introduced to the market after Feb. 15, 2007. It does not address marketing or advertising. The measure goes into effect Aug. 8, and gives affected industries two years to comply.

E-cigarettes, which are battery-powered devices that heat up fluid that includes nicotine and other ingredients such as flavors and chemicals, have become increasingly popular. They are now the most common form of nicotine use among teenagers. Researchers found that it is the liquid nicotine that poses the greatest danger to children.

The study looked at calls to the National Poison Data System about nicotine and tobacco products from January 2012 to April 2015, and focused on calls about children under the age of 6. The NPDS received 29,141 calls for nicotine and tobacco product exposure during this time, averaging 729 child exposures per month.

It found about 14 percent, or 4,128 of the calls were about exposure to e-cigarettes and involved children aged 2 or younger. Most of the exposures were due to ingestion.

"Children exposed to e-cigarettes had five times higher odds of a health care facility admission and almost 3 times higher odds of having a severe outcome than children exposed to cigarettes," says the report. "One death occurred in association with a nicotine liquid exposure."

"These are not trivial exposures. There were comas, seizures, and even one death in the 40-month period we studied, and these exposures were predictable and preventable," Smith told MedPage Today. "E-cigarettes and vaping liquids are products that should never have entered the market without adequate consideration of the harms they could cause to young children."

Smith, also the director of the Center for Injury Research and Policy at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Ohio, told HealthDay that more needs to be done.

"Other prevention steps include prohibiting the use of flavors, as was done for cigarettes since 2009, restricting the use of packaging and labeling attractive to children, ensuring that liquid nicotine compartments on e-cigarettes are child-resistant, and limiting the concentration and/or quantity of nicotine in refill products," he said.

Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, a nonprofit group dedicated to education about e-cigarettes and vapor products, told HealthDay that the concern about e-cigarettes is "overblown."

He told HealthDay that the child who died "consumed a homemade nicotine liquid concoction that's much stronger than retail versions." He also pointed out that the number of cases have declined since this study was conducted, saying that this is likely due to increased publicity about the risk.

Co-author Henry Spiller, director of the Central Ohio Poison Center at Nationwide Children's Hospital, encouraged parents of young children who vape to treat liquid nicotine like a poison, suggesting that they keep refill containers "up, away and out of sight, preferably in a locked location" and to not leave vaping devices laying around.

Study authors encourage parents to call the Poison Help Line immediately, at 1-800-222-1222, if their child has been exposed to e-cigarettes.

Princess Health and Study finds most smokers are not satisfied with e-cigarettes and don't make the switch; study author wishes they would. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Study finds most smokers are not satisfied with e-cigarettes and don't make the switch; study author wishes they would. Princessiccia

e-cigarettes smoking tobacco tobacco prevention vaping

Gusty 19:50 Add Comment

image www.mirror.co.uk

Although e-cigarettes did help a small group of smokers quit smoking traditional cigarettes, most smokers who tried them didn't find them to be an acceptable alternative, says a recent study.

Study author Terry Pechacek told HealthDay News that smokers ideally would find e-cigarettes more appealing and less dangerous than traditional cigarettes, and suggested that traditional cigarettes should be "degraded" to encourage a switch.

"Even if they're only half as risky, there would be a huge public health benefit if we could switch 40 million smokers to them," said Pechacek, also a professor and interim division director of Health Management and Policy at Georgia State University in Atlanta.

The study, published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research, is one of the first to look at whether smokers find e-cigarettes to be a satisfying alternative to regular cigarettes.It surveyed more than 5,700 Americans in 2014, and focused on the 729 current and former smokers who had tried e-cigarettes. Of the 585 current smokers who had tried e-cigarettes, 58 percent (337 people) self-reported that they didn't use them anymore and 42 percent (248 people), said they smoked both. Among the 144 former smokers, 101 had quit smoking altogether and 43 had switched exclusively to e-cigarettes.

"Greater than fivefold more current smokers did not find them satisfying and stopped using them," says the report, making it unlikely that e-cigarettes "will replace regular cigarettes unless they improve."

Pechacek told HealthDay that follow-up research to be released later suggest the problem is related to nicotine delivery, smell and flavor. In the big picture, "E-cigarettes may help a few people to quit, but mostly they don't. And the suspicion from these data is that they help keep people smoking. That is not something that the e-cigarette advocates want to hear," Thomas Wills, professor and interim director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of Hawaii Cancer Center, told HealthDay.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration acted to regulate e-cigarettes in early May. The rules ban the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, require health warnings on all packaging and advertisements and require manufacturers to get federal approval on all products introduced to the market after Feb. 15, 2007. It did not address advertising and marketing. The measure goes into effect Aug. 8, and gives affected industries two years to comply.

Gregory Conley, president of the American Vaping Association, told HealthDay that the rules will weaken the innovation of e-cigarettes.

He pointed out that the study did not establish if participants used an old model of e-cigarettes or a new one, which have become more appealing. He also noted that most smokers in the study who switched to e-cigarettes were more likely to use a "tank-style" device, which can deliver more nicotine and last longer than devices that look more like cigarettes.

Princess Health and FDA to regulate e-cigs: ban sales to minors, require warning signs, require federal approval; did not address advertising issues. Princessiccia

Princess Health and FDA to regulate e-cigs: ban sales to minors, require warning signs, require federal approval; did not address advertising issues. Princessiccia

e-cigarettes federal regulation food and drug administration smoking ban teens tobacco tobacco prevention youth

Gusty 08:34 Add Comment

In a long-anticipated move, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced May 5 that it is assuming regulatory authority over all tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, cigars, hookah, tobacco and pipe tobacco that include banning sales to anyone under 18.

�Today�s announcement is an important step in the fight for a tobacco-free generation � it will help us catch up with changes in the marketplace, put into place rules that protect our kids and give adults information they need to make informed decisions," Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell said in a news release.

FDA's new tobacco regulations will prohibit sales of e-cigarettes and all tobacco products to anyone under 18, both in person and online, and buyers must now show photo ID.

Health warnings will also be placed on packages and in advertisements, saying, �WARNING: This product contains nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive chemical.� It also bans free samples and the sale of covered products in vending machines not located in adult-only facilities.

The regulation also requires manufacturers of all newly-regulated products introduced to the market after Feb. 15, 2007, a date that is set by the Tobacco Control Act of 2009, to require federal approval. An amendment to the legislation has been submitted to change the date so more e-cigarettes would be grandfathered in, Jayne O'Donnell and Laura Ungar report for USA Today.

The e-cigarette industry is pushing back on these regulations.

"Industry experts say treating e-cigarettes, which don't contain tobacco, the same as cigarettes could lead to such onerous and costly approval that all but the largest tobacco companies would be forced out of the market � and possibly those companies, too," USA Today writes. Jeff Stier, an e-cigarette advocate with the National Center for Public Policy Research and industry officials, told USA Today that it could cost $1 million or more per application.

Vapers also argue that e-cigs help people quit, but studies on that conflict.

Ellen Hahn, a professor at the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and co-chair of the UK Tobacco-free Task Force, told USA Today that the new rule is a good first step toward controlling e-cigarettes, noting "vaping" can get youth addicted to nicotine and threatens to prolong "the tobacco epidemic."

"From a health perspective, to reduce the social acceptance of them is good because frankly, it's the wild, wild West out there," she told the newspaper. "Vape stores are everywhere."

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation commended the FDA for these regulations, noting the use among high school students has "rocketed from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 16 percent in 2015, an increase of more than 900 percent." But it also said the regulation did not go far enough.

"Studies have proven that tobacco advertising directly influences youth, and that such sweet e-cigarette flavors as gummy bear and cotton candy play a role in children trying these products," Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey, CEO of the RWJF, said in the statement "Today's final rule did not address these issues, and we strongly urge the FDA to take aggressive regulatory and enforcement actions to prevent and reduce youth tobacco use, in any form it takes."

The regulation goes into effect Aug. 8, and gives affected industries two years to comply. The original proposal was introduced in 2014.

Princess Health and UK study finds e-cigarettes aren't replacing traditional cigarettes, but their sales rise as unregulated TV ads for them increase. Princessiccia

Princess Health and UK study finds e-cigarettes aren't replacing traditional cigarettes, but their sales rise as unregulated TV ads for them increase. Princessiccia

cigars e-cigarettes research smokeless tobacco tobacco

Gusty 18:09 Add Comment

A study led by a University of Kentucky researcher found that electronic cigarettes have not become a substitute for traditional cigarettes, but their use is increasing, especially as television commercials for the products increase, Carol Lea Spence reports for UK AgNews.

�Cigarette purchases have dropped a bit, from about 90 percent to 80 percent of all tobacco products during the past 15 years, but it�s still a big player. Other tobacco product sales are growing, though�particularly e-cigarettes,� Yuqing Zheng, lead researcher and an agricultural economist in UK's College of Agriculture, Food and Environment, told Spence.

The study, published in The American Journal of Agricultural Economics, looked at the habit formation of non-cigarette products and studied usage in five categories, including: cigarettes, e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco, cigarillos and cigars, Spence reports.

The study collected data from convenience stores in 30 U.S. markets, looking for evidence to support that e-cigarettes had become a substitute for traditional cigarettes. It also investigated whether consumers purchased products based on cost and advertising.

They found that when the price of e-cigarettes went up, it did not increase the demand for traditional cigarettes. And not surprisingly, it also found that the purchase of e-cigarettes increased with increased TV advertising, but not with increased magazine advertisements.

�This adds to the policy discussion,� Zheng told Spence. �While cigarettes are strictly regulated in terms of advertising, there are no advertising restrictions on e-cigarettes.�

The study also found that based on consumption patterns, all five tobacco products in the study were habit forming, and e-cigarettes had the "highest degree of habit formation," Zheng told Spence.

Zheng attributed that to three things: Most e-cigarettes contain nicotine, which is addictive; they can be used in places where traditional cigarettes are banned; and because they don't burn out, people use them for longer periods of time, Spence reports.

Zheng told Spence that there is no scientific evidence to prove e-cigarettes are less harmful than cigarettes, and noted that the study found that people will generally buy traditional cigarettes regardless of the price, but in general are "more responsive to price increases" of non-cigarette tobacco.

Princess Health and Teens now more likely to use e-cigs than tobacco; health officials call for regulations and better education about the products. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Teens now more likely to use e-cigs than tobacco; health officials call for regulations and better education about the products. Princessiccia

e-cigarettes federal regulation research smoking teenagers teens tobacco

Gusty 15:21 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The number of adolescents using electronic cigarettes has risen so much that more of them use e-cigs than tobacco products, says the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The findings come from the National Youth Tobacco Survey, which collected data from about 20,000 middle- and high-school students across the country from 2011 to 2015.

Only 1.5 percent of high schoolers used e-cigarettes in 2011, but that zoomed to 16 percent in 2015, with most of the increase seen between 2013 and 2014. The number of middle-school students using e-cigarettes increased from less than 1 percent in 2011 to 5.3 percent in 2015.

Tobacco smoking with hookahs, or water pipes, showed a lesser but significant increase, rising to 7.2 percent from 4.1 percent among high-school students and to 2 percent from 1 percent among middle-school students.

During this same time frame, children's use of cigarettes, cigars and other tobacco products decreased. The share of high-school and middle-school students who reported smoking a cigarette in the last month dropped, respectively, to 9.3 percent from 15.8 percent; and to 2.3 percent from 4.3 percent.

The rise in e-cigarette and hookah use offset the decrease in traditional tobacco use, meaning there was no overall change in use of nicotine or tobacco products among middle and high school students between 2011 and 2015.

An estimated 25.3 percent of high school students and 7.4 percent of middle school students say they have used a tobacco or nicotine product in the past 30 days. That amounts to 3.82 million high school students and 880,000 middle school students.

The study did not give state-by-state figures, but Kentucky has long ranked high in youth tobacco use.

One of the reasons for the rise in popularity of e-cigarettes is that there are no restrictions on buying them on the internet, Carina Storrs reports for CNN after interviewing Brian A. King, deputy director of research translation in the CDC Office on Smoking and Health, who led the current research.

"The fact that we have a flavored product that is easier to access and possibly cheaper has created a perfect storm to lead to increased use," King said.

Also, King said, e-cigarette companies appeal to youth by advertising heavily on social media, selling trendy accessories and employing celebrities to market the products. King said older peers and family members could also be providing e-cigs, just as they have provided conventional cigarettes to.

Pediatricians have called for raising the smoking age to 21 and for the regulation of e-cigarettes.

As of April, 2016, 141 cities in 10 states and the state of Hawaii have raised the legal age to buy tobacco or vaping products to 21, according to the tobacco21.org website.

In Kentucky, Democratic Rep. David Watkins, a retired physician from Henderson, filed a bill this year to raise the legal age for buying tobacco or vaping products to 21, which made it out the the House Health and Welfare Committee, but was not called up for a vote on the House floor. Kentucky banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors in 2014.

The Food and Drug Administration introduced a proposal in 2014 to oversee and regulate electronic cigarettes, but it has still not been finalized.

Dr. M. Brad Drummond, associate professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, told Storrs that tighter restrictions are needed around purchasing, taxation, flavoring and advertising of e-cigarettes, noting that this would have an effect on "denormalizing their use." He also said teens need to be better educated about the harms associated with e-cigs.

Princess Health and Another Kentucky school district goes tobacco-free and e-cigarette free; efforts largely led by students in Webster County.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Another Kentucky school district goes tobacco-free and e-cigarette free; efforts largely led by students in Webster County.Princessiccia

cigarettes e-cigarettes schools smoking ban

Gusty 14:39 Add Comment

The Webster County school board voted unanimously May 26 to make all district property, vehicles and buildings officially tobacco-free, Matt Hughes reports for the Webster County Journal-Enterprise. As in some other school districts, efforts for the ban were largely led by students.

�This is something the Youth Experiencing Success Youth Council has been working on for years,� said board member Mickey Dunbar, who has worked closely with Youth Empowerment Services. �I think it is very important that we educate our students' minds and educate them about their bodies.�

The ban will go into effect July 1 and includes all tobacco products, including vapor devices, commonly known as e-cigarettes. It also extends to school-sponsored trips, all sporting events and all school functions.

�I will enjoy being able to walk out of a basketball game without having to navigate a gauntlet of cigarette smoke,� Dunbar told Hughes. �I think this will set a good precedence for the other schools in our area.� Webster County is in the West Kentucky Coalfield.

The YES Youth Council and its adult sponsor first approached the board last fall, and said that while supportive, the board voiced concerns that the community would not be supportive, especially during ballgames. But since then, Hughes said, board members "have gotten a lot of positive feedback from the community."

As of May 2015, Kentucky reported 40 tobacco-free school districts, which include 500 individual schools, according to the Tobacco Free Schools Kentucky website. This amounts to 40 percent of Kentucky's students.

Princess Health and Bourbon Co. teen named South's top youth anti-tobacco advocate for his efforts in pushing for county smoking ban.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Bourbon Co. teen named South's top youth anti-tobacco advocate for his efforts in pushing for county smoking ban.Princessiccia

awards e-cigarettes schools smoking smoking ban smoking bans smoking ordinances tobacco youth

Gusty 12:53 Add Comment

Tyler Boyle (Photo from
Lexington Herald-Leader)

Tyler Boyle, a Bourbon County High School senior and president of Students Making A Change in the Community, was named the South Region Youth Advocate of the Year by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids for his efforts to push a smoking ban in Bourbon County, Lashana Harney reports for the Lexington Herald-Leader.

Boyle has been a part of SMACC since it was re-established in 2013. The club is a place for youth voices to be heard on smoking issues, with the ultimate goal of a countywide smoking ban -- but in the meantime, working for a school regulation that would ban electronic cigarettes.

The smoking ban has yet to pass, but the schools have added e-cigarettes to their comprehensive tobacco policy, which banned tobacco products of any kind on school grounds.

Boyle told the Herald-Leader that he applied for the award in hopes of bringing more attention to the anti-tobacco cause in his county, which has a long history of tobacco production and sales.

"I applied for this award because of all of the work that I've done in my home community and state for tobacco control," he told Harney. "I thought that if I could make national attention, maybe, it would make the officials in my community take this issue more seriously."

Boyle said that he was honored to receive the award, which was presented at a gala in Washington, D.C., in mid-May. He plans to attend a symposium sponsored by the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids in Washington in July and the Philip Morris Cos. international shareholder meeting next May.

Boyle told Harney that sometimes he gets frustrated because change is slow to take place, but the will to keep pushing forward always comes back.

"After attending the award gala, I was revitalized and I'm ready for the next step in tobacco control," he said.

Boyle will attend Vassar College in the fall to study political science with a focus on advocacy work and said he would continue his work with the Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids.

"Tobacco advocacy is something near to my heart," Boyle said. "Vassar is actually going smoke free in July 2015. So, I plan to work hard to implement and support their new policy."

Princess Health and Even nicotine-free electronic cigarettes can damage lungs; parents urged to warn teens about dangers of e-cig smoking.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Even nicotine-free electronic cigarettes can damage lungs; parents urged to warn teens about dangers of e-cig smoking.Princessiccia

e-cigarettes heart disease hypertension lung disease parenting smoking teens

Gusty 13:52 Add Comment

Kentucky has one of the nation's highest smoking rates, but electronic cigarettes, or e-cigs, are becoming more popular. These battery-powered vaporizers produce a vapor that usually does not contain nicotine. Some have claimed that e-cigs can help people quit smoking because the amount of nicotine can be reduced until it isn't present in the vapor. However, new research shows that other substances in e-cigs may damage the lungs.

Research has found that nicotine in any form damages the endothelial cells that line the lungs, and can cause them to become inflamed or injured. The new research has found that e-cigarette solutions without nicotine contain other substances like acrolein, which damage the lungs in other ways.

"This research reports that components found in commercially available e-cigarette solutions and vapors generated by heating them may cause lung inflammation," said lead researcher Irina Petrache. Long-term effects haven't yet been studied, but the results of this study warn that e-cig inhalation may involve adverse effects on lung health, she said.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research shows that e-cigarette use among middle and high school students has tripled. "The development and marketing of e-cigarettes has the potential of hooking a whole new generation on nicotine," Garry Sigman, director of the Loyola University Health System Adolescent Medicine Program, said. It's very addictive and can lead to health issues such as lung disease, heart disease, hypertension and nervous system problems, he said.

Sigman said parents need to made sure their children understand that e-cigarettes are just as addictive as other substances. "Nicotine is so addictive that with only a few inhales, it can create an addiction," he said. Because adolescents enjoy and use technology so much, the modern qualities of the e-cigs might make them seem cool. "Setting rules and monitoring behavior is essential to keeping our teens safe," Sigman said.

Princess Health andTeen use of electronic cigarettes has tripled in one year.Princessiccia

Princess Health andTeen use of electronic cigarettes has tripled in one year.Princessiccia

e-cigarettes research smoking

Gusty 16:33 Add Comment

By Melissa Patrick
Kentucky Health News

The number of middle- and high-school students using electronic cigarettes tripled from 2013 to 2014, surpassing the current use of all teen use of tobacco products, including conventional cigarettes, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Data from CDC/CDC National Youth
Tobacco Survey; Image: NPR

The findings came from CDC's 2014 National Youth Tobacco Survey,which found that e-cigarette use by high-school students increased to 13.4 percent in 2014 from 4.5 percent in 2013, and to 3.9 percent in 2014 from 1.1 percent in 2013 for middle-school students. That amounts to 2 million high school students and 450,000 middle school students smoking e-cigarettes.

The report also found that the use of traditional cigarettes remained the same for middle-school students at 7.7 percent, but fell among high-schoolers to 9.2 percent in 2014 from 12.7 percent in 2013, the "lowest level in years," CDC said in a press release.

�We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids at any age, whether it�s an e-cigarette, hookah, cigarette or cigar,� CDC Director Tom Frieden said. �Adolescence is a critical time for brain development. Nicotine exposure at a young age may cause lasting harm to brain development, promote addiction, and lead to sustained tobacco use.�

There is great debate about how safe e-cigarettes are. Most public-health officials have called for them to be controlled by government regulations, including advertising regulations, and say more controlled studies need to be done to determine their safety.

And while many proponents of e-cigarettes say the devices may be helpful in helping some smokers give up traditional cigarettes and are safer than traditional cigarettes, a recent study published in the American Journal of Public Health says that using electronic cigarettes doesn't help smokers quit, and Brady Dennis of The Washington Post reports that another study, published in the journal Tobacco Control, found that the chemicals used to flavor e-cigarettes could prove unsafe when inhaled over time.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to issue new regulations for e-cigarettes, despite its announced plans to do so last April. Meanwhile, Kentucky enacted a law last year banning the sale of "alternative nicotine products" such as e-cigarettes to minors, and local Kentucky smoking bans have slowly been adding e-cigs to their local ordinances. Several Kentucky schools have also added language to their school policies to include e-cigarettes in their smoking bans, with one school official in Webster County recently saying e-cigarettes are "high on every school system's radar right now."

But not everyone sees this increase in teen use of e-cigarette use as a cause for alarm.

�The CDC should really be jumping for joy at the fact that smoking rates are declining. This is a huge success,� Michael Siegel, a professor and tobacco-control specialist at Boston University�s School of Public Health, told Dennis. �Instead, they are using this as another opportunity to demonize e-cigarettes.�

Siegel said that while minors shouldn't have access to any tobacco products, the CDC numbers also suggest that e-cigarettes are not serving as a gateway to traditional cigarettes and might be diverting them away from them, Dennis reports.

Gregory Conley of the American Vaping Association told NPR that the data, which show a decrease in tobacco smoking by teens as they have increased experimentation with vaping "should be part of the discussion."

Princess Health andSmokers using electronic cigarettes are less likely to quit smoking than those who don't use the devices, California study finds.Princessiccia

Princess Health andSmokers using electronic cigarettes are less likely to quit smoking than those who don't use the devices, California study finds.Princessiccia

cigarettes e-cigarettes research smoking tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 13:55 Add Comment

The sudden increase in use of electronic cigarettes has prompted questions about whether they actually help people quit smoking. A study published online in the American Journal of Public Health found that individuals who use e-cigarettes are actually less likely to quit smoking than those who do not. In Kentucky, 24 percent of adults and 41 percent of those aged 18 to 29 reported using e-cigarettes, according to a Kentucky Health Issues Poll.

The study, conducted by researchers from the University of California San Diego School of Medicine, discovered that smokers who use e-cigs are 59 percent less likely reduce cigarette use and 59 percent less likely to stop smoking altogether, compared to smokers who have not used e-cigs.

"Based on the idea that smokers use e-cigarettes to quit smoking, we hypothesized that smokers who used these products would be more successful in quitting," said Wael Al-Delaimy, professor and chief of the Division of Global Public Health in UC-San Diego's Department of Family Medicine and Public Health. He said the research showed the hypothesis was false, and more studies are required to find out why these people can't stop smoking. "One hypothesis is that smokers are receiving an increase in nicotine dose by using e-cigarettes," he said.

E-cigs don't contain tobacco, but smoking them releases ultra-fine particles and volatile organic compounds such as heavy metals. The study also found that women and those who smoke daily are more likely to have tried e-cigarettes.

Princess Health andElectronic cigarettes are 'high on every school system's radar right now,' Western Ky. school official tells Henderson newspaper.Princessiccia

Princess Health andElectronic cigarettes are 'high on every school system's radar right now,' Western Ky. school official tells Henderson newspaper.Princessiccia

e-cigarettes electronic cigarettes health policy school health schools smoking

Gusty 11:46 Add Comment

This story has been updated to reflect recent data about teens and e-cigarette use.

School officials in northwestern Kentucky are trying deal with an increase in the use of electronic cigarettes by students, Erin Schmitt reports for The Gleaner in Henderson.

Union County Schools spokeswoman Malinda Beauchamp told Schmitt there had been 16 discipline referrals of students using e-cigarettes at Union County High School and 26 at Union County Middle School this year. There is no data from previous years for comparison, but school officials "have noticed the rise" and want to be proactive in preventing more usage, Beauchamp said.

Schmitt reported on e-cigarette usage at other schools in the region and found 15 to 20 incidents at Henderson County High, but only a few incidents in North Middle School, South Middle School and Central Academy, according to Julie Wischer, public information officer for Henderson County Schools.

The Webster County Schools did not have exact numbers of incidents of usage, but has e-cigarettes listed under its policy as a tobacco product or paraphernalia, Todd Marshall, Webster�s director of pupil personnel, told Schmidt. Though it�s a new issue, Marshall said, �It�s high on every school system�s radar right now.�

A recent report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that the number of high school students who tried e-cigarettes has tripled in one year, to more than 13 percent, while smoking of traditional cigarettes dropped to 9.2 percent from more than 13 percent, CBS News reports.

�Many users of marijuana prefer e-cigs or vapes because it�s smokeless, odorless and easy to hide or conceal,� Henderson County Supt. Patricia Sheffer told Schmitt. �This �vaping� is a concern in our schools and elsewhere among youth, because it can produce a nearly instant �high� with little or no detection."

The preventive measures include: a Facebook message to parents and students from her about the dangers of e-cigarettes, which not only involves nicotine usage, but also marijuana, alcohol and other drugs that can be ingested through the device; updating policies, procedures and the student code of conduct to include prohibitions on e-cigs and vapor devices on school property; a commitment to find out how the student got access to the device; and a required drug and alcohol screening if caught, with parent-paid counseling if the screen is positive.

Princess Health and Princess Health andAltria, parent of Philip Morris, reports spending most on lobbying the 2014 legislature but says it didn't fight smoking ban.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andAltria, parent of Philip Morris, reports spending most on lobbying the 2014 legislature but says it didn't fight smoking ban.Princessiccia

cigarettes e-cigarettes General Assembly legislation legislature lobbying smoking smoking ban smoking bans tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 13:53 Add Comment

The parent firm of the nation's largest cigarette company again reported spending more than anyone else on lobbying the Kentucky General Assembly, but says it did not fight the bill that would have imposed a statewide smoking ban in most public places.

"Altria Group, the parent company of Philip Morris USA and U.S. Smokeless Tobacco, reported spending $156,200, "far more than any other company or group, Tom Loftus reports for The Courier-Journal. "And it got the things it wanted from Kentucky lawmakers: tobacco taxes were not increased, no new tax was put on electronic cigarettes and the tobacco-industry supported bill to ban the sale of electronic cigarettes to minors passed."

Spokesman David Sutton "said not a penny of Altria's lobbying campaign went to defeat the so-called 'smoke-free' bill, though he said the company opposes such complete smoking bans within private businesses," Loftus reports. "He said he suspected Altria's lobby spending topped the list because 'We fully disclose everything'," including research time of its legal staff and its "grassroots activation" work to rally its supporters in Kentucky.

The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids, "which reported spending $6,284 during the session, earlier this month blamed Altria for leading the successful defeat of the bill to ban smoking in indoor public places like bars and restaurants," The Courier-Journal reports.

"They've spent a lot of money on lobbying for years," the campaign's Betsy Janes told Loftus. "They've sent their message out for so long and have relationships with legislators. It's hard for us to compete with that." (Read more)

The campaign's Amy Barkley told Kentucky Health News that Altria's assertion "is very hard to believe. That said, I don�t have any hard evidence to dispute their claim. We all know the tobacco industry�s influence is very deep in Frankfort, so perhaps they didn�t need to overtly lobby against the smoke-free bill."

The Kentucky Farm Bureau Federation, which gets funding from Altria for some of its programs, lobbied against the smoking ban. It ranked eighth in lobbying expenses, with $68,821. For The Courier-Journal's lst fo top lobbying interests, click here.

Princess Health and Princess Health andDanville is latest Ky. community to ban indoor use of e-cigarettes, following new law that classifies them as tobacco product.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andDanville is latest Ky. community to ban indoor use of e-cigarettes, following new law that classifies them as tobacco product.Princessiccia

e-cigarettes local government smoking smoking ban state government

Gusty 19:44 Add Comment

The Danville City Commission has approved an ordinance that bans the use of e-cigs in enclosed places, placing the same restrictions on them that already exist on traditional tobacco cigarettes, though the health risk of e-cigs has not yet been determined, Todd Kleffman reports for The Advocate-Messenger.

Kleffman notes that Danville is among a few Kentucky communities leading the way on placing restrictions on e-cigs, which are battery-powered devices that emit vaporized nicotine, but not tobacco.

"Bardstown, Manchester and Madison County have placed an outright ban on public use of e-cigs, while Kenton County prohibits their use in the workplace, and Glasgow bans them in bars and restaurants, according to attorney Chris Johnson of the Kentucky League of Cities," Kleffman writes.

E-cigs have become increasingly popular as an alternative to smoking, and because the amount of nicotine can be adjusted in the vapor liquid, many use it as a means to quit smoking, although this claim has not been proven.

�Generally, it�s people who are trying to quit smoking or are looking for a cheaper, healthier, less offensive alternative,� Blayne Hogue, operator of Vapor Visions in Danville, told Kleffman. �With the younger crowd it has appeal because of the taste and because it�s kind of the new thing.�

Speaking to the concern that vaporizing products with a "candy store array of flavors carrying names like Skittles, Pluto, Mother�s Milk and John Wayne" is designed to appeal to an underage crowd, Eric Griffiths, proprietor of the e-cig store Juice Box, asked,  �Why is that we have to be marketing to kids because it has flavors? Just because it�s an adult product doesn�t mean it has to taste bad.�

Neither store allows minors.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced last month that it will begin regulating e-cigs in the future, Kleffman notes, and the Kentucky General Assembly passed a law this year that puts
vapor products in the same class as tobacco cigarettes, prohibiting their sale to those under 18.

The state law, not complaints from local business owners or residents, is what prompted the Danville City Commission to enact its own ordinance banning e-cigs in enclosed public places, City Manager Ron Scott told Kleffman.

�The state now classifies them as a tobacco product. What makes them different? By our ordinance, there is no distinction,� Scott said to Kleffman. �You can�t have it both ways. We had to clarify it for our businesses as to where they can be used. Vapor products contain nicotine, and from a public health point of view, there is an unknown amount of nicotine in the exhaled vapor that could affect others, like second-hand smoke. . . . Do you err on the side of caution, or do you just disregard the potential public health risks?"

The commission vote was 3-2, with Mayor Bernie Hunstad and Commissioner Kevin Caudill voting against the ban after two citizens argued that the prohibition was premature because no reliable research has proven that the devices create a public health concern.

Princess Health and Princess Health andCan e-cigarettes help you quit smoking? That's unproven.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andCan e-cigarettes help you quit smoking? That's unproven.Princessiccia

e-cigarettes smoking smoking cessation

Gusty 09:51 Add Comment

The notion that electronic cigarettes can help smokers cut back or quit smoking is uproven, says an article in the June issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology. The article contradicts British research suggesting that e-cigarettes could play a positive role in reducing smoking rates for people who try to quit smoking without the aid of prescription medication or professional support.

Photo from U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Manufactures of e-cigarettes say that progressively adding smaller doses of nicotine to the e-cigarette will help smokers quit smoking. But the authors say this theory hasn't been proven and no evidence supports the claims. "Despite the apparent optimism surrounding e-cigarettes and their purported therapeutic role in smoking cessation, there just simply is not enough evidence to suggest that consumers should use e-cigarettes for this purpose," lead author Andrew Nickels says.

Nickels examined the risks of e-cigarettes, including the ongoing dependence on nicotine and dual use of e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes. Dual use is common, with people using e-cigarettes in public and smoking regular cigarettes at home. The researchers found that this behavior continues to expose children and asthma sufferers in the household to secondhand smoke. "It also promotes ongoing nicotine dependence,� says co-author Chitra Dinakar.

Nicotine is an addictive neurotoxin, and the increased use of e-cigarettes has caused an increase in calls to poison centers. The most common adverse health effects from e-cigarettes are nausea and eye irritation, according to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. More than half the calls involved children under 5.

Because e-cigarettes are fairly new, the article says there could be other long-term health complications that have yet to be discovered. Results of long-term exposure to such substances are unknown.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has proposed a rule that will allow it to regulate e-cigarettes. In April, Gov. Steve Beshear signed into law Senate Bill 109, which prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes to minors in Kentucky.

Princess Health and Princess Health andHigh school students in Bourbon County campaign for indoor smoking ban, also against teenagers' use of e-cigarettes.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andHigh school students in Bourbon County campaign for indoor smoking ban, also against teenagers' use of e-cigarettes.Princessiccia

cigarettes e-cigarettes electronic cigarettes smoking smoking ban smoking ordinances tobacco youth

Gusty 20:07 Add Comment

From left: LaShana Harney, Tyler Boyle
and Jessica Jones (Cori� Bowen photo)

By Cori� Bowen
Kentucky Health News

A group of young people in a Bluegrass county with a strong tobacco tradition is trying to make the county's indoors smoke-free.

Students Making a Change in our Community started at Bourbon County High School in the late 1990s and was revamped in 2013 by several students and Cyndi Steele of the Bourbon County Health Department. SMACC members said they felt it was time for the voices of youth to be heard again on smoking issues.

�Our main idea is to try to establish a smoke-free ordinance in Bourbon County,� senior Lashana Harney said.

The group has been busy this year collaborating with other youth in Paris at events such as the 2013 National Kick Butts Day � a youth rally against tobacco use and secondhand smoke � as well as attending a recent Kentucky Supreme Court hearing on an anti-smoking ordinance enacted by the Bullitt County Board of Health.

�It was interesting to be at an actual case,� Harney said. �It could go either way with this case.�

Jessica Jones, a junior, said that while SMACC targets adults, it also educates and trains elementary students on how to say no to tobacco, and about the harms of smoking. �We�ve been traveling and training fifth-graders,� she said.

SMACC members are working towards a school regulation against electronic cigarettes, which they think are deceptive. They don�t believe their peers realize the harmful effects associated with them.

�E-cigarettes are becoming more popular than traditional cigarettes,� junior Tyler Boyle said. ��The best way to get to youth is other youth.�

The Kentucky Tobacco Policy Research Program lists chemicals in e-cigarettes that can have negative effects on health including acetone (nail polish remover) and formaldehyde. The legislature recently banned sales of e-cigarettes to people under 18.

Harney, Jones and Boyle say they have seen a decrease in their parents� smoking since each student has become an anti-smoking advocate.

With Steele�s guidance, SMACC plans to keep educating and making its presence known in the community. Members will launch a group-written and directed YouTube video at the end of April that addresses secondhand smoke, titled, �It Could Be You.�

Steele said the road to banning smoking in public places for Bourbon County has been a work in progress for a long time: �I knew 20 years ago that when I chose to do this � it would be my career.� Now she has more help.

Princess Health and Princess Health andNew law bans sales of electronic cigarettes to minors.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andNew law bans sales of electronic cigarettes to minors.Princessiccia

cigarettes e-cigarettes General Assembly legislation legislature tobacco

Gusty 05:21 Add Comment

Sales of electronic cigarettes to people under 18 are now illegal in Kentucky, following Gov. Steve Beshear's signing into law Thursday of a bill that had support from cigarette manufacturers, many of whom are also getting into the e-cigarette business.

Senate Bill 109, sponsored by Republican Paul Hornback of Shelbyville and Dennis Parrett of Vine Grove, took effect immediately because it contained an emergency clause. A House committee had approved a similar bill, but it did not contain an emergency clause and never came to a vote in the full House.

The law bans the sale to minors of "alternative nicotine products," defined as "a noncombustible product containing nicotine that is intended for human consumption, whether chewed, absorbed, dissolved, or ingested by any other means," but "does not include any tobacco product, vapor product, or any other product regulated as a drug or device by the United States Food and Drug Administration." It also adds to state law more detailed definitions of "tobacco product" and "vapor product," and also bans the sale of the latter to minors.

Princess Health and Princess Health andSenate OKs bill to regulate e-cigarettes just like tobacco products.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andSenate OKs bill to regulate e-cigarettes just like tobacco products.Princessiccia

e-cigarettes electronic cigarettes General Assembly legislature smoking tobacco

Gusty 14:11 Add Comment

A bill to limit the sale of electronic cigarettes in the same way as sales of tobacco products passed the state Senate on Thursday, March 6. Senate Bill 109, sponsored by Sen. Paul Hornback, R-Shelbyville, would prohibit the sale of e-cigarettes and vaporized nicotine to minors. The vote was 36-2.

The bill now goes to the House. House Bill 309, which would regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products, was approved by a House committee last month but has been awaiting action on the floor for several weeks.