Survey: E-cigarette use rising among Hawaii public school teens

KHON2 ^ | December 10, 2014 | Staff

[Bettyprob]

A recent study shows more Hawaii public school teens are either experimenting with or using new tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes.

According to the Hawaii Youth Tobacco Survey, lifetime e-cigarette use among high school students tripled from 5.1 percent in 2011 to 17.6 percent in 2013, and quadrupled among middle school students, from 1.8 percent to 7.9 percent, during the same time period.

“Evidence suggests that e-cigarettes are being used by students who are not cigarette smokers,” said Tonya Lowery St. John, epidemiologist for DOH’s Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. “More than a third of middle school students and almost a third of high school students who currently smoke e-cigarettes have never even tried a traditional cigarette.”

The study also showed increased usage of other new tobacco products, such as tobacco in water pipes or hookah and roll-your-own cigarettes.

[FlingWingFlyer]

Some kids still prefer to shock their parents by using tobacco rather than telling them that they want a sex change or marry somebody of the same sex. I guess you could say they are “old school”.

[FreedomStar3028]

I am shocked I tell you. Shocked! Never before in the history of mankind have youth smoked tobacco, or nicotine products. Shocked.

[Chickensoup]

Copying their hero and favorite Son: Hussian

[bgill]

Who didn’t see that coming. It’s a status symbol. All the cool kids are doing it.

[aMorePerfectUnion]

I’m holding out for e-cigars...

[manic4organic]

E-cigarettes are not tobacco products.

[Aqua225]

I use a e-cig for the nicotine. I started with e-cigs, dated my current wife, and did the real thing on and off for year, went back to e-cigs. Nicotine treats me better than caffeine, but nicotine delivered in burning leaves, will wreck your respiratory health.

No problems with e-cigs. Of course, some study in the distant future will predict I will still have some sort of horrible death :)

[jjsheridan5]

Who didn’t see that coming. It’s a status symbol. All the cool kids are doing it.

Then this is hiding an even scarier story. Given that 17.6 percent of high schoolers had tried an e-cigarette, and presupposing that many of those are not active users, then there is clearly a rather alarming shortage of cool kids. 17.6% of high schoolers having tried anything, given that they are at the age where they generally start experimenting in all kinds of things, is rather pathetically low, if, as you say, it is what the cool kids do.