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Study: North Carolina Minors Have Easy Online Access to E- Cigs JUNE 22, 2016 by EDITOR in CHILDREN'S HEALTH, FEATURED, PUBLIC HEALTH, RESEARCH NEWS, SUBSTANCE USE with 1 COMMENT By Bradley Allf Gone are the days of the Marlboro Man, but the tobacco industry is finding new ways to lure young people. Though today’s youth smoke far fewer cigarettes than their counterparts did 20 years ago, an emerging market for electronic cigarettes is providing a new outlet for nicotine use among young people. Since funding for North Carolina’s teen smoking cessation program was cut, more teens are using nicotine, either by lighting up or using e-cigarettes. Photo courtesy Nerissa’s Ring, flickr creative commons Despite a state law prohibiting the sale of these products to people younger than 18, a study by UNC -Chapel Hill researchers found that North Carolina minors can easily obtain electronic cigarettes over the internet. “E-cigarettes,” as they are called, are a group of various battery-operated devices that allow users to inhale nicotine vapor. Originally promoted as smoking cessation devices, the products are now exploding in popularity among teens, ma ny of whom have never smoked conventional cigarettes. One recent study found that high school seniors are now twice as likely to use e - cigarettes as conventional cigarettes. Of the estimated 4.7 million middle and high-school students in the US that used tobacco products in 2015, 3 million were e-cigarette users. The e-cigarette business, almost nonexistent 10 years ago, has burgeoned into a multi-billion-dollar industry. Effective policies have struggled to keep pace, leading one FDA official to label the market the “wild, wild West.”