For the state of Minnesota, smoking is a case of win some, lose some.
In the recent youth tobacco survey, they discovered that the rate of smoking among teens has gone down from 18% sometime in 2011 to around 11% in 2014. That's the good news.
However, it also tells a different story: there seems to be more teens who are smoking e-cigarettes. The same survey revealed that over 25% of high schoolers have tried smoking an e-cigarette at least once. Middle schoolers have also got their hands on the device, with around 8% of them trying it.
Although according to some, there's not much evidence to suggest that this is definitely getting prevalent or that teens are now shifting from traditional tobacco to e-cigarettes, Dr. Edward Ehlinger, the state's health commissioner, still expressed his growing concern and apprehension last Monday, November 10, around the same time that they released the results of the survey.
E-cigarettes still contain nicotine, which can be harmful for both the mind and physical health of the users, especially if they are exposed to or use them for a longer period. According to Dr. Ehlinger, e-cigarettes can still encourage nicotine addiction, especially among teens, which may result to dependency to the substance in the long term.
What he thinks the state should do is to develop stricter policies that will prevent teens from accessing or using these e-cigarettes.
One of his proposals is to ban e-cigarettes enhanced with flavors. According to one high schooler, many teens like e-cigarettes particularly those with flavors since they don't think they are really smoking cigarettes. E-cigarettes these days are available with a smell of fruitiness.
The student also mentions that the e-cigarettes don't leave any nicotine or cigarette smell in their bodies so teens can smoke them and still remain undetected by their parents.
Dr. Ehlinger also wants to ban smoking the electronic device indoors, such as in homes and schools.
