Electronic cigarettes coming out of the cold

Electronic cigarette use among adults in Alaska is on the rise as tobacco use is falling, according to a story by Suzanna Caldwell for Anchorage Daily News citing state Department of Health and Social Services (DHSS) data.

An Alaska Division of Epidemiology bulletin released last week said that electronic cigarette use among Alaska’s adults had risen from one percent in 2014 to four percent in 2013.

That increase came as the percentage of adult tobacco smokers fell from 24 percent in 1996 to 21.9 percent in 2013.

These figures are part of the data gleaned from the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a continuing survey of Alaska’s adults.

Andrea Fenaughty, deputy section chief for chronic disease prevention and health promotion under the DHSS, said the increase in electronic cigarette use might seem small, but that it represented a significant increase over a short period of time.

The survey found, among other things, that five percent of women and three percent of men use electronic cigarettes, and that seven percent of people aged 18 to 29 were vapers.

Eighty five percent of electronic cigarette users reported being current cigarette smokers, while 72 percent of them reported using electronic cigarettes in place of combustible cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool or when cigarette smoking was not allowed.