The Importance Of Regulating Electronic Cigarettes

One of my first memories in the United States was taking a Drug Abuse Resistance Education (D.A.R.E) class. I was in sixth grade and a top student, as talking about drugs and alcohol and the way they affect us was fascinating to me. This is why, the following year, I volunteered to become a peer educator in Teens Against Tobacco Use (T.A.T.U). For a couple of years, I gave presentations to young students which included facts, demonstrations, and games, to spread the knowledge that tobacco is harmful and that staying away from smoking prolongs life expectancy and increases the quality of life. It should come as no surprise, then, that I consider myself a big proponent of staying tobacco-free and encouraging others to quit smoking as a great way to promote health. I remember watching my mom and sister as they took part in their nightly ritual of smoking a few cigarettes to unwind. “Did you know that a main component of cigarettes is used as rocket fuel?” I would ask them, as I opened the window and they stared back at me blankly. “We know, we know” was the answer every time. I knew that convincing them to quit was no easy task, but I was committed. Day after day, I proudly stated a new fact about the evils of smoking. Finally one day, they quit. At first, they attributed it to the cost. Since we had just immigrated to the United States, the cost of cigarettes was simply not something they could afford. I didn’t believe it. I proudly

Over the last few decades, tobacco and nicotine prevention efforts have risen to an all time high. Prevention efforts focus on education to the public of the negative effects on one’s health when using tobacco and nicotine products, as well as with pleas to healthcare policymakers to increase restrictions on product manufacturing and sales. One policy effort growing in popularity in the United States is called Tobacco 21, which proposes to raise the legal age of purchase for consumers of tobacco and nicotine products to 21 years of age (Farber, Pakhale, & Neptune, 2016). Farber, Pakhale, and Neptune (2016) state that 90% of tobacco and nicotine users begin smoking before the age of 18, with 99% of users starting before the age of 26. Lower smoking cessation rates are associated with earlier ages of initiation and the tobacco industry is known to target youth in advertisement of these products lending to the early age of initiation. The tobacco industry themselves admit that increasing the age allowed for purchase to exclude youth would substantially effect their sales. Tobacco 21 laws also deter adolescents from gaining tobacco or nicotine products from friends 18 to 21 years of age, which is the most likely age group to supply younger teens. With this knowledge, placing tighter restrictions on consumers younger than 21 years of age, using the Tobacco 21 policy, may deter tobacco and nicotine initiation in hopes to prevent individual use at all in the future (Farber

In the article it explain how raising taxes on cigarettes will benefits teens in the future: “Studies indicate that 90 percent of smokers start as teens. An estimated 17,000 California kids get hooked on smoking and one-third of them will eventually die from a tobacco-related illness. In every other state that has raised the tobacco tax, smoking rates have gone down among teens” (Western Dental Joins California Health Leaders Supporting Proposition 56). Most people would agree that habits are formed at young age, and we all know that bad habits are hard to quit, specially those that creates addiction such as cigarettes. If the price of cigarettes is raise, teens will not be able to afford them since teens are limited in money which will prevent them from creating that addiction. Also, we will be able to have more control over impulsive teenagers, is not that we are coddling them but rather guide them to do what is right for them and break the cycle of smokers. Furthermore,

In the 1960’s something out of the ordinary came about in the American market. It was when electronic cigarettes were created, they were not very known until twelve years later. Electronic cigarettes are called e-cigarettes which are operated nicotine inhalers (Neporent). In today’s world, many people under the age of 18 use e-cigarettes. That’s why I think the government should increase the restrictions on e-cigarettes.

The health Department of California is ready to play its role toward the solution of this serious issue. I hope our combined efforts along with the development of making policy about increasing the minimum legal age to 21 years for smoking will make us able to uproot this issue of early age/teenage smoking and will also make us able to fulfill our dream of health America.

Since the passage of the California Tobacco Health Protection Act, the smoking rates among California adults have decreased by 42%. From 1990 to 1993, the smoking rates among the youth population for those ages 12 to 17 dropped down to 9.1%. From 1989 to 1993, Proposition 99 helped in the reduction of cigarette consumption by 802 million packs of cigarettes. The smoking prevalence in adults has also decreased from 26.7% in 1988 to 15.5% during the first half of 1995 (Cokkinides et al., 2009). Hence, cigarette consumption and smoking prevalence rapidly declined after the implementation of Proposition 99.

It was in 1964 that the Surgeon General of the United States first published a report on the ill-effects of smoking cigarettes, and within a year the first law requiring health warnings on cigarette packages was in effect. From that point, the government has slowly, but continually, imposed more and more restrictions on the use of tobacco products. Throughout the 1960s, 70's, 80's, and 90's, the both individual jurisdictions within the State of California, as well as the entire state, continued to impose tougher and tougher restrictions on smoking cigarettes until 1994, when California became the first state in the union to pass a law which completely prohibited smoking in most enclosed workplaces. ("Secondhand Smoke Exposure") This law, which took effect in 1998, restricted smoking in all enclosed places of employment including offices, factories, bars and restaurants. But by the early 21st century, the current restrictions were not enough for California's lawmakers and a push was started to ban smoking in all public places. Since the passage of these restrictions in the 1990's, there has been a great deal of change in the state with advocates of the smoking ban pointing to the increased health benefits for the citizens of the state, while opponents focus on the economic damaged in the business community caused by the restrictions. It is therefore necessary to examine the State of California and its ban on smoking and how it has

The Institute of Medicine found that children, who are born between 2000 and 2019, would suffer 249,000 fewer premature deaths and 45,000 fewer deaths from lung cancer, when the legal age to purchase tobacco is increased from 18 to 21 years old (atg.wa.gov 2016). Tobacco is the leading cause of preventable death in the U.S, which causes many chronic health complications such as heart disease, cancer, and lung disease (atg.wa.gov 2016). Raising the legal age to purchase tobacco products to 21 in Washington state will decrease the use later in adult life specifically, ages 15 to 17 who are targeted the most through tobacco companies due to their vulnerability and gives loyalty to a specific tobacco company from the addiction of nicotine. Needham, Massachusetts campaigned to raise the legal age to purchase tobacco products from 18 to 21 in 2005 and won. Results are already compelling, showing that between 2006 and 2012 Needham’s high school smoking rate dropped more than half among girls and boys (atg.wa.gov 2016). Given that nicotine can be such an addictive drug and be seen to be used as a coping mechanism, specifically ages 15 to 17 through their developing stages of life, needs to encounter harder access to get their hands on tobacco products. According to the Center of Disease Control, one in 13 Americans age 17 or younger alive today are estimated to die prematurely due to the effects of smoking (atg.wa.gov 2016). Raising the legal age to

Cigarette smoking has been identified as the number one cause of preventable disease as well as, death worldwide. Today, smoking-related diseases are claiming over 4 00,000 American lives each year. Among people who smoke, 70 percent of them are teenager. Smoking harms almost every organ in the body, causing lung cancer, coronary heart disease, and chronic pulmonary diseases. As a result, researchers have found out that teenagers in Washington State start to purchase tobacco at an early age. The Washington State’s top lawyer was set to unveil legislation seeking to raise legal the smoking age from 18 to 21 (Morris). If the bill would be passed

Electronic cigarettes - or e-cigarettes - are electrical devices that imitate/copy real cigarettes by producing a vapour that's possibly less harmful than tobacco smoke. Many e-cigarettes contain nicotine and, when they do, it's the vapour that gives the nicotine hit.

The Center of Disease Control’s (CDC) study found that 1.8 million middle and high school students admitted to using electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) in 2012. The article “Smoke Signals” by Alessandra Potenza from the Upfront Magazine states that e-cigs are becoming more popular, but also are becoming more controversial. Electronic cigarettes, known as e-cigs are becoming more popular among youth and because they are unregulated, U.S. officials are worried.

During week six the class discussed a case titled Should E-Cigarettes be regulated? This article brought up different feelings that have been bottled up for the last ten months. The reason for these feelings is due to e-cigarettes assisting with cutting cigarettes out my life forever. quit a twelve-year habit of smoking cigarettes. From reading this chapter I changed my views greatly. By reading this chapter I can determine if the rights of the consumers are being met with the distribution of e-cigarettes and to whether they should be regulated. The primary step is the right to be informed. When it comes to the e-cigarettes I feel that the consumers are not informed of what can happen to them after long exposure to the use of e-cigarettes.

The role of a pharmacologist is to be concerned with actions that are being used with drugs. The article explains on the concerns of a E-cigarette and how it still contains super dangerous chemicals. The E-cigarette was brought up to take the place of the traditional lung killing cigarette, the new cigarette claims that it's healthier and that they are reusable, but pharmacologists had worries that it was still dangerous after numerous of studies the new cigarette was still harmful in other ways causing it to be dangerous still. I believe it is the pharmacologists job to approve of new legal drugs coming out to protect the country from being exposed to dangerous drugs or tobacco items.

The younger the individual when they initially start smoking, the greater the possibility of addiction and becoming a lifelong smoker (King, 2015). Tobacco addiction is an issue the United States is struggling with, partially due to the fact that 90% of adult smokers began before or by the age of 18 (Ahmad, 2015). Researchers believe that since younger people become easily addicted to tobacco and older people have an easier time quitting tobacco product use, raising the minimum age for tobacco sales could prevent this addiction from spreading (Ahmad, 2015). Public opinion about tobacco use, the Tobacco 21 bill, California’s computer model, retail, and the comparison in impact between alcohol and tobacco purchasing ages are all considered

Many fears that tobacco advertisements will influence children and young adult to smoke. It is become concern, especially since it is noted that future cigarette business lay on the age 14-24 years old. California government has done some effort to prevent that. For example, California