In this last year, the E-cigarette use has increased by 40% among adolescents. In 2021, 44.3% of young people between 14 and 18 years old said they had tried the electronic cigarette compared to 17% in 2014, according to data from the National Drug Plan. Keep in mind that the electronic cigarette it is not an alternative for all those who want to quit smoking. On the contrary, the consumption of electronic cigarettes, better known as vapers, causes cardiac arrhythmias, alters ventricular repolarization and heart rate, according to a study published in the journal Nature. Andres Zamorano Tapia, president of the National Committee for the Prevention of Smoking (CNPT)states that Both electronic cigarettes and water pipes, or shishas, ​​are harmful to health. «With electronic cigarettes what is exhaled is not water vapor, as they want us to believe. This term is misleading. They are aerosols, they are solid and liquid products in suspension that include substances that are harmful to health”, highlights the president of the CNPT.

Its sale is not regulated

Little by little, the presence of vapers has been making itself felt in marketing and advertising in the last year. “Tobacco companies and influencers appear. they advertise, making it attractive for its flavors and aromas. It looks like it came from a candy store and, as its sale is not regulated, it can be sold in any type of establishment,” says Zamorano Tapia. Specialists highlight three reasons why this product has become so popular among young people: its low price, its design and the availability of flavors. The electronic cigarette business amounted to 88 million last year and maintains a growth forecast of 30% by 2022, according to data from the Union of Vaping Promoters and Entrepreneurs. Notably the lack of legislative regulation in Spain allows you to sell them in any business. The Government plans to modify the law that regulates the sale and consumption of this type of product.