There is perhaps a major misconception in the safetey of e-cigarttes or other alternative tobacco products.

According to a new article, “The increasing use of alternative tobacco products, such as water pipes and e-cigarettes, by children under the age of 18 is a burgeoning public health crisis, researchers from NYU Langone Medical Center write in a commentary in the current issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association(JAMA).”

The article goes on to say, “Although cigarette use overall has decreased by 33 percent in the past decade in the United States, the use of alternative tobacco products such as hookahs has increased an alarming 123 percent, with nearly 20 percent of high school seniors smoking hookahs.”

Furthermore, ” ‘There is a misperception that alternative tobacco products are safer than cigarettes, but the evidence says otherwise. “Other researchers have demonstrated that a typical 45 minute hookah session is equivalent to smoking as many as five packs of cigarettes,’ Dr. Weitzman says.”

Probably the most alarming statement made by Dr. Weitzman is, “The use of alternative tobacco products by children can be the beginning of an addiction that can lead to later cigarette use. Tobacco use is the leading preventable cause of death worldwide, causing more deaths than HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined.”

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NYU Langone Medical Center / New York University School of Medicine. “Use of e-cigarettes, alternative tobacco products may lead to increased tobacco use: Experts sound the alarm on burgeoning public health crisis.” ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 October 2015. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151013153807.htm>.