Survey Finds MN Youth Are Using E-cigs

The Minnesota Health Department says the number of high school students in the state who smoke cigarettes is falling but nearly 86,000 have tried e-cigarettes. That’s one of the findings of the 2014 Minnesota Youth Tobacco Survey.  More than 4200 students in grades 6 through 12 took the survey.

It found the number of students who smoked cigarettes in the past 30 days fell from 18.1 to 10.6 percent. That's the largest decline in the history of the survey.  Meanwhile, nearly 13 percent of high school students reported having tried an e-cigarette in the past 30 days.  The sharp decline in the use of regular cigarettes is credited in part to a higher tobacco tax, expanded smoking bans and tighter restrictions on youth access to tobacco products.

The Health Department says e-cigarettes are cheap and can be purchased online.  They are not regulated by the FDA and their health risks are unknown.

"These new findings indicate that our statewide efforts to reduce and prevent conventional tobacco use among Minnesota children are working," said Minnesota Department of Health Commissioner Dr. Ed Ehlinger. "At the same time, we are seeing a wild-west approach toward e-cigarettes, which allows tobacco companies unlimited marketing access to young men and women. This has led to increasing numbers of Minnesota high school and middle school students using e-cigarettes."

"I have a sense of déjà vu about e-cigarettes," Ehlinger said. "Tobacco companies are using old and well-tested marketing techniques to introduce children to a new product that delivers nicotine and potentially leads to the burden of addiction. We need to take a hard look at what actions we can take at local and state levels to stop this trend," Ehlinger said.