WASHINGTON — They’ll start treating e-cigarettes just like regular cigarettes
in Arlington County public schools.
Thursday night, the school board voted to add e-cigarettes to a as well as add them to .
Peter Fisher, with the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, calls the vote “a very
sensible move” by the board. A CDC study released just last month found e-
cigarette use among high school students tripled between 2011 and 2013.
“Which is concerning because e-cigarettes contain nicotine, and nicotine use
by young people in any form is unsafe, as the CDC noted, and it can harm
adolescent brain development,” Fisher tells Â鶹¹ÙÍø.
Erika Sward, with the American Lung Association, says it’s no wonder more
young people are trying e-cigarettes.
“What we are seeing over and over again with the e-cigarette industry is that
they’ve ripped a page out of big tobacco’s handbook. They are using candy
flavors like cotton candy and Fruit Loops and even Captain Crunch to target
kids. E-cigarettes should not be used by youth. They are a tobacco product,
and we really applaud Arlington County for its efforts to prevent kids from
starting to use e-cigarettes.”
In July, a law took effect in Virginia barring the possession of e-cigarettes
by, or their sale to, anyone under age 18.
E-cigarettes are not yet federally regulated, but that could change soon.
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