Prevalence and Correlates of E-Cigarette Perceptions and Trial Among Early Adolescents in Mexico.

PURPOSE: Assess the prevalence and correlates of e-cigarette perceptions and trial among adolescents in Mexico, where e-cigarettes are banned. METHODS: Cross-sectional data were collected in 2015 from a representative sample of middle-school students (n = 10,146). Prevalence of e-cigarette awareness, relative harm, and trial were estimated, adjusting for sampling weights and school-level clustering. Multilevel logistic regression models adjusted for school-level clustering to assess correlates of e-cigarette awareness and trial. Finally, students who had tried only e-cigarettes were compared with students who had tried: (1) conventional cigarettes only; (2) both e-cigarettes and conventional cigarettes (dual triers); and (3) neither cigarette type (never triers). RESULTS: Fifty-one percent of students had heard about e-cigarettes, 19% believed e-cigarettes were less harmful than conventional cigarettes, and 10% had tried them. Independent correlates of e-cigarette awareness and trial included established risk factors for smoking, as well as technophilia (i.e., use of more media technologies) and greater Internet tobacco advertising exposure. Exclusive e-cigarette triers (4%) had significantly higher technophilia, bedroom Internet access, and Internet tobacco advertising exposure compared to conventional cigarette triers (19%) and never triers (71%) but not compared to dual triers (6%), although dual triers had significantly stronger conventional cigarette risk factors. CONCLUSIONS: This study suggests that adolescent e-cigarette awareness and use is high in Mexico, in spite of its e-cigarette ban. A significant number of medium-risk youth have tried e-cigarettes only, suggesting that e-cigarettes could lead to more intensive substance use. Strategies to reduce e-cigarette use should consider reducing exposures to Internet marketing.

Tobacco smoking: From 'glamour' to 'stigma'. A comprehensive review.

In this narrative review, we explore the history of tobacco smoking, its associations and portrayal of its use with luxury and glamour in the past, and intriguingly, its subsequent transformation into a mass consumption industrialized product encouraged by advertising and film. Then, we describe the next phase where tobacco in parts of the world has become an unwanted product. However, the number of smokers is still increasing, especially in new markets, and increasingly younger individuals are being attracted to it, despite the well-known health consequences of tobacco use. We also explore current smoking behaviors, looking at trends in the prevalence of consumption throughout the world, discrimination against smokers, light and/or intermittent smokers, and the electronic cigarette (e-cigarette). We place these changes in the context of neuroscience, which may help explain why the cognitive effects of smoking can be important reinforcers for its consumption despite strong anti-smoking pressure in Western countries.