WASHINGTON: The top US doctor on Tuesday called for “aggressive” action against e-cigarette use, which he said has exploded to epidemic proportions among youth and puts their health and brain development at risk.

“We must take aggressive steps to protect our children from these highly potent products that risk exposing a new generation of young people to nicotine,” Surgeon General Jerome Adams said in a rare public advisory.

“E-cigarette aerosol is not harmless,” he said, noting that “nicotine exposure during adolescence can harm the developing brain — which continues to develop until about age 25.”

In the past year alone, e-cigarette use increased 78 per cent among high school students, one in five of whom now say they vape — using battery-powered devices to inhale nicotine liquids that are often fruit or candy flavoured, and highly addictive.

In all, more than 3.6 million US youth, including one in 20 middle school students, use e-cigarettes.

E-cigarettes can make it harder for youngsters to learn and remember and pay attention, as well as putting them at risk of future addiction, according to Adams.

The surgeon general urged parents, doctors and educators to take a series of steps, including banning indoor vaping and talking to kids about the dangers of e-cigarettes.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2018