iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — Could e-cigarette advertisements be luring young people to smoke like tobacco ads once did?
According to a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, more than 18 million youth (students in middle and high school) were exposed to e-cigarette ads in 2014.
The CDC says the exposure to the ads may contribute to young people using e-cigarettes.
“The same advertising tactics the tobacco industry used years ago to get kids addicted to nicotine are now being used to entice a new generation of young people to use e-cigarettes,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. in a statement. “I hope all can agree that kids should not use e-cigarettes.”
Some of the tactics used by e-cigarette companies involve using sex, independence, and rebellion, reports the CDC, and they’ve increased their advertising spending from $6.4 million in 2011 to $115 million in 2014.
E-cigarettes for the most part are unregulated and usually contain nicotine, which according to the CDC, “at a young age may cause lasting harm to brain development, promote addiction, and lead to sustained tobacco use.”
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