With the new school year starting, it gives teens all the more reasons to pick up vaping. A recent study has shown that e-cigarette companies persuade teens to start vaping by targeted ads and joining a “popular” trend. Officials' concerns have been raised, especially in the youth community as some minors are in vulnerable populations.
In 2008, e-cigarettes became a known item in the United States, and were hailed as a smoking alternative to help smokers quit. However, according to the British Columbian researchers, vape companies appeal to teens by their market strategy. The use of nicotine has nearly increased by 20% in the youth community from grade seven to 12. These concerning numbers are what lead government officials to pursue the flavor ban, mailing ban, and have new PMTA regulations.
According to Psych Central, Assistant Professor Laura Struik and Assistant Professor Sarah Dow-Fleisner, have conducted research and statistics implementing the high rise of vape users and the reasons as to why they have taken on vaping.
“This is the first study of its kind that makes direct links between reasons for youth uptake and the marketing strategies of e-cigarette companies,” said Struik. “The public needs to know how the next generation is being targeted to take up and ultimately become addicted to these nicotine products.”
Researchers have claimed that there are many reasons why young adults and teenagers take up vaping. It ranges from anxiety, stress, taste, peer pressure, curiosity, easy to hide, and easy to gain access. From what they see online and social media marketing, teens believe that vaping is extremely less harmful than cigarettes. However, if that was the case then government officials would not have to create more laws to protect the youth.
Vaping is seen as a smoking alternative to help addicted users cut back and maintain a healthier lifestyle. Dow-Fleisner said, “When they take a closer look at who uses them, it’s clear teens do not use the products to quit smoking.” Teens do what is cool and trendy while they think it is not harmful to their body. They do not understand that vaping is only a safer alternative for cigarette smokers to stop them from higher health risk.
According to the Assistant Professors studies, only 3% of minors are current smokers between grade seven to 12, while 20% use e-cigarettes for pleasure. This is indicating that 17% of users were originally non smokers.
E-cigarettes have become a popular activity that minors have picked. They are doing it for pleasure rather than stopping a smoking addiction. “Recent polls found that 95% of teens said they were curious about vaping so they wanted to try it, while 81% tried an e-cigarette because a friend vaped, and 80% reported continued e-cigarette use because they enjoyed the good flavors. More than 70% of the teens agreed e-cigarettes were ‘cool and fun.’ “
The youth community do not understand the health risks associated with vaping. They do what they feel is popular and ignore all the bad signs. Due to this high rate of underage users, government officials are banning e-cigarette flavors. This poses a problem for real smokers trying to quit because they will be limited on options. The government should ban cigarettes to stop everyone from smoking and protect their heath.
Advertisements and T.V. commercials are targeting teens and promoting the “cool” life. These commercials capture their attention by using real life situations so the youth can relate and feel as if they need to pick up vaping. It promotes a social life and teens will do anything to fit in during those ages. However, those are the years where they build their life and social identity is extremely important to them.
The health risks are very important and teens need to be aware of their actions. According to Market Watch, “Teens who smoked and vaped were also five times more likely to report coronavirus symptoms, including coughing, fever, tiredness and difficulty breathing, compared with those who never smoked or vaped. And this same group was about two to nine times more likely to get tested for the virus than non-vapers and non-smokers, probably because they were more likely to exhibit symptoms.”
This situation is very serious and can easily be avoided. There is a lot happening in the world today, and everyone is trying their best to maintain. The government is trying to protect the youth community, but they have created a controversy regarding e-cigarettes and flavored nicotine.
Hopefully a peaceful end takes place, and the vaping industry is still able to help smokers cut back or quit. Teens and underage users need to be more aware of the health risks, and commercial advertising needs to take a new approach. In the next few months we should be seeing a change in the industry, and hopefully it is for the best. Stay tooned for more information and vape news!
Works Cited
PhD, Rick Nauert. Tobacco Companies Use Targeted Marketing to Entice Teens to Vape. 17 Aug. 2020, Tobacco Companies Use Targeted Marketing to Entice Teens to Vape
