Young lured to tobacco addiction via e-cigarettes – WHO

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<br>By Stephanie Nebehay<br> <br>GENEVA, July 27 (Reuters) – The tobacco industry’s sleek marketing is attracting youngsters to e-cigarettes which can lead to tobacco addiction, despite claims by some executives that they aim to solve the smoking epidemic, 99액상 the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Tuesday<br>><br>>Over eight million people die annually from tobacco use and exposure to tobacco smoke, making the habit a leading cause of preventable diseases, the WHO said in a report calling for greater regulation of smoke-free devices containing nicotine<br>><br>>In a weekend interview with Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper, Philip Morris International CEO Jacek Olczak was quoted as saying he wanted the tobacco group to be able “to leave smoking behind”<br>><br>>Asked about such claims, 99액상 Ruediger Krech, director of the WHO’s department of health promotion, told a briefing on Tuesday: “I don’t believe … that all of a sudden you turn from being the real problem to being part of the solution.”p>”While the evidence is not yet totally conclusive on the issue of e-cigarettes, we know that they are also harmful.”p>Some 16,000 flavours are on the market for e-cigarettes, including bubble gum, vanilla ice cream and chocolate cookies, Krech said, adding e-cigarette users were “at least twice if not three times” more likely to become cigarette smokers.p>”That calls for exactly the same regulation as cigarettes,” he added.p>Tobacco firms promote e-cigarettes through sleek product design, social media influencers and flavours, said Kelly Henning of Bloomberg Philanthropies, which funded the report.p>”We know e-cigarettes are extremely appealing to children and the industry’s goal is to get a whole new generation of users addicted to these products,” she said.p>”One in 5 high school kids are using currently e-cigarettes, that’s 3.6 million kids,” she added, referring to adolescents in the United States.

“There is still a very large problem here.”p>Philip Morris sells IQOS, 99액상 a device that heats up but does not burn packages of ground-up tobacco, to create a nicotine-filled aerosol similar to that produced by e-cigarettes, 99액상 which heat flavored nicotine liquid.
The company also started selling more traditional e-cigarettes in a few markets last year. British American Tobacco sells e-cigarettes under the Vuse brand, while Imperial Brands markets Blu e-cigarettes. (Reporting by Stephanie Nebehay Additional reporting by Chris Kirkham Editing by Mark Pot<br>

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