Electronic cigarettes spark intense debate about whether young people at risk

WASHINGTON – Lawmakers are questioning e-cigarette makers about whether they’re trying to hook youngsters with fruity, fun-sounding flavours such as “cherry crush.”

Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jay Rockefeller tells e-cigarette makers that the last thing anyone should want to do is encourage young people to start using a new nicotine delivery product.

The presidents of two companies, blu eCigs and NJoy, insist that they don’t target young people and that their products are a critical alternative for people desperate to quit traditional cigarettes.

Electronic cigarettes heat a liquid nicotine solution, creating vapour that users inhale. But there isn’t much research about the safety of e-cigarettes, and the studies that have been done have been inconclusive.