Other tobacco products – cigars and smokeless products such as dip, chew and snuff – are taxed in New Mexico at a lower rate than cigarettes, 25 percent of the product’s value. The information from high-school students was collected using anonymous bubble-sheets, so specific answers as to why younger users are trying products like e-cigarettes and the practice known as “vaping” is not given.
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According to the 2014 National Health Interview Survey, 13 percent of American adults have tried an e-cigarette, including 48 percent of current smokers, 55 percent of “recent” quitters (defined as respondents who had last smoked less than a year before the survey), 9 percent of “long-term” quitters (defined as respondents who had last smoked a year or more before the survey), and just 3 percent of people who have never smoked.
“E-cigarettes and other electronic nicotine delivery systems can establish, maintain and strengthen nicotine addiction”, said Lindsay Amico, TFEN youth engagement coordinator. So flavors are a big reason.
Survey participants were sorted into four categories: current tobacco smokers, specifically those who have smoked 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and now smoke every day or a few days; smokers who quit less than a year ago; smokers who quit more than a year ago; and those who’d never been smokers. “So, there is really concern about dual use”.
The data that is most concerning to health professionals like Hyland is that more than 50 percent of young adults who smoke are using both cigarettes and their electronic substitutes.
Critics also fear that we haven’t seen the long-term health effects of vaping and that regulators and lawmakers should take a stricter stance on taxing e-cigarettes and raising the age at which they can be bought. A spokesperson for Tobacco-Free Erie-Niagara on Monday called the data “alarming”.
In Hyland’s view, the report did not bring all bad news.
Broome County has already banned e-cigarette use in and near the entrances to county buildings.
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Hyland said whatever the outcome of future anti-smoking efforts and studies, there is a need to be vigilant about current trends.
