Once upon a time, a cigarette was only a cigarette. It looked like a small cylindrical stick with tobacco at its core. In most cases you had to roll one for yourself and then light it up with a matchstick. Then you would puff on the stick like there was no tomorrow or until your nicotine craving was satiated. So simple was the recipe for a certain death in the good old days. Along the way came globalization that helped expand international markets, weaved the world into a rich tapestry, and supported technological progress at an awe-inspiring speed.

The face of the world changed drastically in a matter of a few decades post-World War II, and so did the smoking industry. Nowadays we have e-cigarettes as an alternate to the real cancerous stick. E-cigarettes have been promoted by tobacco companies as a way to quit regular cigarettes. A new study has found out that the use of e-cigarettes may lead a person towards conventional smoking and nicotine addiction, especially teenagers.

E-cigarette is a battery powered device that delivers an aerosol of nicotine combined with some other chemicals. Since it has been promoted as a harmless alternate to regular cigarettes, the device has gained immense popularity among people of different age groups in the US and around the world.

The bad health effects of e-cigarettes are still being investigated by researchers, but everyone agrees on the hazardous potential that this product actually holds.

The Hazards of Electronic Smoking

This study was undertaken by the UC San Francisco (USSF). The study focused on the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking among adolescents in the US. The researchers found that adolescents who used the devices were more likely to smoke cigarettes and less likely to quit smoking. In addition, the study of approximately 40,000 people around the US also revealed that the use of e-cigarette among middle and high school students doubled between 2011 and 2012, from 3.1 percent to 6.5 percent.

"Despite claims that e-cigarettes are helping people quit smoking, we found that e-cigarettes were associated with more, not less, cigarette smoking among adolescents," said lead author Lauren Dutra, a postdoctoral fellow at the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.

"E-cigarettes are likely to be gateway devices for nicotine addiction among youth, opening up a whole new market for tobacco," she said.

Trading under the Radar

The e-cigarettes have captured a niche market in the US because this product has remained unregulated by the US Food and Drug Administration. This is not the only reason for the swift ascent of this product in the market. While regular cigarette manufacturers are banned from producing flavored cancer sticks, the e-cigarette market was not restricted by such rules and they went ahead to sell their products in chocolate and strawberry flavors. Even so, this does not undermine the dangerous side effects of e-cigarettes in any way.

Locate, analyze, attack

Parents have to shoulder the responsibility of protecting their children from the hazards of smoking. You can use your experience to locate and analyze the weaknesses in the system that allows the deceptive trade of smoking products in the open market. Attack only when you have the right strategy. You can call upon other parents in your community to voice their concern against unregulated trade of e-cigarettes and try to push for a legislation to restrict this market from expanding viciously. Don’t forget to keep a good eye on your children. This trick never gets old.