Kids who see e-cigarette ads are more likely to take up the products, according to a new federal study.
The study released Monday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is the first to look at a link between e-cigarette ads and use, which has soared among students. The study comes out as the Food and Drug Administration considers a ban on e-cigarette sales to minors.
The study “concludes that efforts to reduce youth exposure to advertising are critical to prevent youth from using e-cigarettes as well as other tobacco products,” according to the CDC.
CDC researchers looked at ads in stores, the Internet, TV, movies and print media.
The agency analyzed data from a 2014 survey of middle and high school students that should the greater exposure to such ads, the greater odds of using e-cigarettes.
CDC said that e-cigarette advertising rose from $6.4 million in 2011 to an estimated $115 million in 2014.
At the same time, the share of high school students using e-cigarettes rose from 1.5 percent in 2011 to 13.4 percent in 2014. For middle school students, use rose from 0.6 percent in 2011 to nearly 4 percent in 2014.
The FDA’s proposed regulations would ban sales to minors but would not prohibit ads of e-cigarettes. Currently ads for regular cigarettes are banned on TV, and radio and cigarette companies are banned from sponsoring sports and entertainment events.
The agency put out the proposed regulations more than two years ago and has yet to approve them. The delay has started to make some patient advocacy groups antsy.
“Until the FDA takes the necessary regulatory steps, the tobacco industry will continue to engage in deceptive practices to make unregulated tobacco products attractive and accessible to young consumers,” said Chris Hansen, president of the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Action Network, the group’s lobbying arm.
