Electronic cigarettes are a ‘gateway’ to cigarette smoking for children and can affect brain development even if smoked infrequently, a group of lung experts has found.
In one of the most significant interventions against vaping to date, the Forum of International Respiratory Societies (FIRS) has called for increased regulation of e-cigarettes, in line with actual cigarettes.
The umbrella group, comprised of respiratory researchers from nine global organisations, also calls for the sale of e-cigarettes to be ‘barred to youths worldwide’.
In a new article published in the European Respiratory Journal, the doctors claim that young people who become addicted to nicotine are at risk of becoming lifelong smokers.
The researchers are worried by the dramatic increase in vaping by children around the world and blame their heightened appeal on the product design, flavours, marketing and the perception of safety e-cigarettes offer compared to cigarettes.
The international group, who come from six continents, carried out a major review of evidence before reaching their conclusions.
‘There can be no argument for harm reduction in children,’ the co-authors wrote. ‘To protect this vulnerable population from electronic cigarettes and other nicotine delivery devices, we recommend that electronic cigarettes be regulated as tobacco products and included in smoke-free policies.
‘Sale of electronic cigarettes should be barred to youths worldwide. Flavouring should be prohibited in electronic cigarettes, and advertising accessible by youths and young adults be banned.
Dr Tom Ferkol, the project’s lead researcher, said e-cigarettes are normalising smoking again after nearly 50 years of progress in public health.
‘These products are normalising smoking and leading to new generations addicted to nicotine,’ he said.
‘It’s not merely the risk of the e-cigarettes, it’s possible these products are introducing the next generations to tobacco, something that we’ve tried to avoid and with some success over the years.’
The Department of Health is currently monitoring emerging research on e-cigarettes to inform future decisions around any future additional regulation in this area.
‘The safety of e-cigarettes is an evolving area of research; while potentially safer than smoking, evidence on long-term safety has yet to be established,’ according to the Health Information and Quality Authority (HIQA).
The latest statistics from the Health Service Executive (HSE), 17.6pc of Irish adults smoke, and 5.6pc of Irish smokers use e-cigarettes.