Insights in public health: Electronic cigarettes: marketing to Hawai'i's adolescents

Electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) are an emerging phenomenon that is becoming increasingly popular among adolescents. Current e-cigarette use among adolescents has more than doubled in the past few years nationally and more than tripled in Hawai'i, despite the fact that safety in terms of health and injury from use is widely unknown. The use of e-cigarettes among adolescents is of particular concern because they may act as a gateway to smoking conventional tobacco cigarettes, substitute for cigarettes where smoking would normally not be allowed, and weaken the effect of clean air policies, and displace effective smoking cessation treatments. Additionally, the use of e-cigarettes may lead to the use of conventional cigarettes. There is special concern that e-cigarette companies are recruiting adolescents who would not have otherwise tried smoking by using tactics such as offering e-cigarettes in attractive flavorings and using the same successful strategies to market their product as tobacco companies have used for conventional cigarettes in past decades. It has been shown that exposure to cigarette marketing is related to initiation and progression in adolescent smoking. Yet, there remains no regulation on the marketing of e-cigarettes to adolescents. It can be extrapolated that expanded regulation that includes limits on the marketing of e-cigarettes may help decrease use among adolescents and prevent the possible increase of smoking rates.