Experts Worry New Vaping Devices That Look Like Toys Will Attract Young People

New vaping devices designed to look like toys may strengthen their appeal to young people, public health experts tell The New York Times.

The devices have color schemes that often correspond with their flavors and have attention-grabbing designs. Some disposable e-cigarettes look like candy, pacifiers, lip gloss or soap. Nicotine is especially addictive for young people, doctors say. Research suggests teens who vape risk short-term and long-term lung damage.

In a New York Times letter to the editor, Linda Richter, senior vice president, prevention research and analysis at Partnership to End Addiction, said we are once again seeing what happens when we underinvest in creating and enforcing effective regulations to curb the marketing of addictive products to young people.

“The tobacco industry’s substantial lobbying efforts have resulted in a regulatory environment riddled with holes and inadequate for reining in the flow of vaping products now available in a broad array of colors and flavors, loaded with high-dose nicotine, and unabashedly marketed to kids,” Richter wrote. “We can and should continue to urge schools and communities to implement effective prevention strategies and help parents talk with their kids early and often about the risks of vaping, but we can’t expect them to shoulder this responsibility on their own. Their best intentions and efforts are simply no match for the ever more enticing landscape of accessible and normalized addictive products.”