Teens Who See E-Cigarette Ads Twice As Likely To Vape

BOSTON (CBS) – As concerns over a possible link between vaping and severe lung injury grow across the country, a new study published in pediatrics finds teens are more likely to vape after seeing ads in stores.

E-cigarettes are the most popular tobacco product among teens and young adults with a fifth of high school students reportedly vaping.  One reason may be the unregulated marketing of e-cigarettes to kids and adults.

To take a closer look, researchers in Texas studied data on more than 4,000 teens and young adults who had never used e-cigarettes at the beginning of the study. After 2.5 years of follow-up, they found that teens were twice as likely to begin using e-cigarettes if they had seen ads for them in retail stores.

Experts are calling on greater regulations on how e-cigarettes are marketed to the public.