Illegal E-Cigarette Use on the Rise

After decades of legislation being passed and almost entire generation of attitudes changed, smoking had gone out of style, or so it seemed. Recently e- cigarettes, or simply known as e-cigs, have surged in popularity.

These products boast that they are healthier than normal cigarettes and come with different flavors to smoke. The problem lies in the fact that while e-cigs don’t contain real smoke, they do contain heavy doses of nicotine and flavor additives could pose potential allergy risks.

Due to the many flavors and colors of these products, minors are now being brought into the smoking world faster than ever. The law for buying e-cigarettes is the same as buying normal cigarettes. The buyer must be 18.

Recently, a post on foxnews.com exposed many minors conveniently buying their vaping machines online to avoid showing ID. Out of 98 times in a test by JAMA Pediatrics, 75 attempts succeeded in obtaining e-cigarettes. This test was conducted in North Carolina which has a law against minors buying any type of cigarette, as well as 40 other states.

The biggest fear for minors obtaining e-cigarettes, in my opinion, would be that they would graduate to normal cigarettes much quicker. Since e-cigarettes do contain nicotine, it is not far off to think minors could get addicted to vaping.

Despite all steps forwards to eliminate cigarettes in public places, it would be a shame if the next generation reversed everything by becoming addicted to e-cigarettes.