E-cigarettes and Teens

Guest: Thomas Wills, PhD, Interim Director of the University of Hawaii Cancer Center’s Prevention and Control Program  Electronic cigarettes have become enormously popular around the world – and here in the US, the percentage of teens who’ve used them has tripled in just five years. That trend is worrisome to public health officials who’ve watched youth smoking rates decline to historic lows.  But young people often think e-cigarettes are safer than traditional smoking, since you’re just inhaling water vapor mixed with nicotine and other chemicals. What’s left to be seen is whether teenagers who “vape” become teenagers who smoke tobacco cigarettes.