According to a recent Yale University study, one in four Connecticut high school students has tried e-cigarettes. Between 2011 and 2013, the percentage of middle and high school students nationwide who have tried e-cigarettes more than tripled.
“While e-cigarettes remain largely unregulated on the federal level, more and more of our children are getting hooked on nicotine," Esty said in a statement. "Children and adolescents are not using e-cigarettes and vaporizers to quit smoking, but instead are using these devices to start smoking."
U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-New Haven), who co-authored the bill, said the candy flavors marketed to kids and teens mask the true nature of e-cigs.
“Multiple reports, including from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and Yale, indicate that many more adolescents are seeking out these potentially dangerous nicotine delivery systems," DeLauro said in a statement. "They are not healthy and fun; they are lethal, addictive, dangerous toxic nicotine delivery devices. Just one teaspoon of liquid nicotine can be lethal to a child."
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