Rise in youth use of e-cigarettes is a major concern

American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown issued the following statement in response to today's release of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's Youth Risk Behavior Survey:

"The findings confirm that e-cigarette use among youth continues to rise beyond the epidemic levels seen in recent years. With more than half (50.1%) of high school seniors having tried e-cigarettes and nearly a third (32.7%) reporting current use of these products, the need for robust Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation is more urgent than ever."

She continues: "While some states and communities are taking action to prevent e-cigarette companies from addicting the next generation of kids, these findings should serve as a wake-up call that more needs to be done at all levels of government. The FDA should prohibit the sale of all flavored tobacco products and eliminate loopholes in existing policy that allow flavored disposable e-cigarettes and flavored e-liquids used in refillable nicotine systems to remain on the market.

She adds: "The tobacco industry is directly responsible for the epidemic of e-cigarette use and nicotine addiction among youth. The FDA must act quickly to implement and enforce comprehensive tobacco control policies if we are to achieve the tobacco endgame."