About 70 percent of middle and high school students see electronic cigarette advertising all over the place, according to new findings from the federal government.
The findings, detailed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday, come as the Food and Drug Administration is debating how to govern advertising of e-cigarettes.
The report found that more than 18 million youths see the advertising in stores, online, newspapers, magazines, television and in movies.
“E-cigarette ads use many of the same themes — independence, rebellion and sex — used to sell cigarettes and other conventional tobacco products,” the CDC said. “Advertising of tobacco products has been shown to cause youth to start using this product.”
The government has severe restrictions on tobacco advertising, including a ban on sponsorships of athletic or cultural events.
However, those same restrictions are lacking for e-cigarettes as the products aren’t federally regulated. The FDA is considering finalizing a series of regulations that would include a ban on sales to minors and required product testing.
The CDC noted that the prevalence of advertising coincides with dramatic increases of e-cigarette use among minors.
The agency used data from the 2014 National Youth Tobacco survey. Researchers found that about 68 percent of middle and high-school students see e-cigarette ads from one or more sources.
The most prevalent place was stores, where 54 percent saw ads. Coming in second was online with 39 percent and TV/movies with 36 percent.
The CDC reported that spending on e-cigarette advertising soared from $6.4 million in 2011 to an estimated $115 million last year.
The agency has previously reported that e-cigarette use among high school students rose from 1 percent in 2011 to 13 percent in 2014.
