E-cigarette use on the rise among teens

Rawalpindi: E-cigarette use leads to severe lung disease. The largest users of E-cigarettes are among teens and young adults.

“After hitting the market, adults were encouraged to use E-cigarettes as a safer alternative to cigarette smoking. However, with the laid-back regulations of E-cigarette use teens are using the device, and becoming addicted to nicotine, which is one of its components,” says Jasim Taqi. “The number of school students using E-cigarettes has doubled. The use of E-cigarette products among teens and young adults is unsafe because these contain nicotine and other potentially harmful ingredients. Nicotine is highly addictive and can cause problems in the brain development of adolescents,” says Musa Kazim.

“Youth with high rates of E-cigarette use are more likely to believe that E-cigarettes are harm-free and less addictive than traditional cigarettes, regardless of whether they smoke or not. The misconception among teens that E-cigarettes are safe is cause for alarm,” says Jafar Ali. “If authorities are unable to control teens’ behavior or educate youth about E-cigarettes and nicotine addiction risks, the chances are more students will start using e-cigarettes in the future,” says Shanawar Hussain.“Educational campaigns are a great help to influence teens to refrain from using E-cigarettes. Officials can start by showing the effects of nicotine addiction and E-cigarette-related health risks to teens,” says Baqir Rizvi. “Smokers may be in a bad mood about their rights to indulge their puffing habit, but they can be harming those around them even more than we think. Inhaling passive smoke may physically lead to some children becoming smoking addicts later in life,” says Ammar Hussain.

“Yesterday Rashid, Shahid, and Hasan were having a good time sitting at a café in one of the Commercial Market Satellite Town Road on October evening. They just smoked their E-cigarettes and were laughing away at a joke their friend had just cracked,” says Mujtaba Haider. “Between them, within the next hour, they finish a whole pack. Rashid, Shahid, and Hasan are not old enough to vote, drive, or get married. Two of them just finished school. One of them will pass out next year,” adds Mujtaba. “Teen smoking is viewed more as a moral issue than a health issue. Every year, during World No-tobacco Day the government officials wake up to the ill effects of tobacco and formulate a brand new legislation,” says Aftab Naqi.