21 is the new smoking age for California

Last month, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a package of bills that would increase the smoking age from 18 to 21, further regulate the use of e-cigarettes in public areas, and expand smoke-free areas around public schools. California is now the second state to raise the smoking age. Read the report from Access Sacramento.

Teens that try e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke

A new study focusing on Los Angeles high school students suggests that teens who try electronic cigarettes are more than twice as likely to move on to traditional tobacco as those who never try vape pens. This finding is a rebuttal to claims by e-cig makers that vape pens don’t threaten young people’s health, and are a useful quitting […]

Raising the smoking age: East Valley youth respond

The Stop Tobacco Access to Kids Enforcement Act (Senate Bill 151) would prohibit the sale of tobacco products to people under the age of 21 in California. But local youth say the availability of tobacco products and the rise of e-cigarettes may doom the success of the bill even before it goes up for a […]

E-cigarettes continue upward trend among teens

Public opinion about tobacco smoking shifted through the 1980s, due to public health campaigns and news about the addictiveness of cigarettes became better known. But smoking is now making a comeback, this time through electronic smoking devices, often called vape pens. While supporters claim they are safer than cigarettes and can be used to help quit smoking, opponents […]

How schools are responding to e-cigarettes

The FDA proposed last month to regulate e-cigarettes and ban their sale to minors. But e-cigarettes are growing in popularity, and schools are having to adopt policies to restrict their use among students. Some schools punish e-smokers with suspension, while other counties give citations, send kids to youth court, or require extra classes. But kids are liking their vape pens. “Sometimes […]

Vaping: too big a hit?

A new shop called “High Tide Vapes” recently opened in Crescent City, an emerging market in northern California: e-cigarettes, or “vapes.” Vape sellers argue that their product helps smokers quit tobacco, but health authorities warn against using them as a “safe alternative.” E-cigarettes have not been studied long-term, and their harm-free image threatens to create a new addiction for youth who never […]

Confessions of an e-cig salesman

Many youth are taking up e-cigarettes saying they want to quit tobacco or keep smoking minus the health effects, but the reality is the substitution won’t help them accomplish much beyond smoking in public places where tobacco has been banned. One youth who took a job as a “brand salesman” for an e-cigarette company divulges what is known about the […]

Do vape pens help teens quit smoking?

Nicotine is thought to be the most addictive substance available over the counter; but teens find out too late that once they start smoking, quitting is harder than they predicted. Many come around to wanting to quit tobacco, and hear e-cigarettes (or “vape pens’), which contain nicotine but no tobacco, being touted as a transitional tool. “I heard vape pens […]

Candy flavors put e-cigarettes on the kids’ menu

Electronic cigarettes, or “vape pens,” may prove beneficial for some who want to quit tobacco but can’t quit the nicotine. But the vape pen sensation among minors raises alarms for public health experts, who haven’t had the time to study the devices long-term. They’re easier to buy online – there is no federal age limit […]

Do vape pens trick teens?

In this short documentary, Youth Radio explores what attracts young teens to smoking e-cigarettes, or “vaping.” Vape pen manufacturers bill them as safe, and try to distinguish “vaping” from smoking — the user breathes in water vapor infused with nicotine and exhales what looks like smoke — but they are habit forming and contain nicotine, a highly […]