Systematic content analysis of online information on herbal smoking products.

BACKGROUND: Herbal smoking products (HSPs) are marketed as a safer alternative to tobacco. These are easily available at affordable prices in the online retail websites. This study aimed to analyze the HSP-related informational content available in the most popular online platforms. METHODS: Google, Yahoo, Bing and YouTube online platforms were searched for HSP related content using appropriate keywords. First 50 search results were retrieved and screened for potential eligibility. The included web-pages were categorized as video and still records. From each included record, information regarding source, primary theme, health benefits/hazards and tone was abstracted. Additionally, video production quality, like ratio and video power index was also computed for each video record. All included records were subjected to descriptive statistics and Chi-square test, as appropriate. Level of significance was set at <0.05. RESULTS: 174 still and 94 video records were included. 35.6% of the included still records were sourced by manufacturers/suppliers while that of scientific origin was 12.1%. 83% of the video-records were posted by general public. About 90% of the included records had not mentioned anything regarding age restrictions. 67.8% of the still records and 87.2% of the video records promoted the use of HSPs. CONCLUSIONS: The informational content presented online is huge, mostly posted by the general public without any scientific rationale and exclusively favors the use of HSPs. There is no age restriction as to who can access the information, making this content easily accessible to people of all ages. Such spread of information may mislead the public in adopting the smoking of these herbal products. Since HSPs may act as a potential gateway to tobacco smoking, there is an urgent need to regulate the content available online.

Herbal smoke: Next hurricane on horizon.

Unsupervised marketing strategies of alternative smoke have made the youth fall prey to herbal smoke in the form of herbal cigarettes and hookahs. The easy online access, exotic looks, and flavors; marketed as safer, healthy alternatives, as an aid to quit smoking has made global herbal cigarette and hookah market see soaring sales in the past decade. Various studies have proven their popularity among the youth and minors with perceptions of being safer and smart alternatives. The scientific studies have shown that herbal smoke is as harmful as tobacco smoke. The marketing strategies of smoke industry to capture the minors and young adults could result in another stronger lobby besides tobacco to be dealt with in coming years. This creates an urgent need for the laws to be reviewed and amended keeping in view the changing scenario.