Ten states and the District of Columbia still allow sales of e-cigarettes to youth, creating a potential health hazard for 16 million children below age 17, the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said.

In addition to health risks, e-cigarette use by youth and adult non-tobacco users could create a gateway to other forms of tobacco use, CDC said in its current Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. The agency called on states to enact indoor bans on e-cigarette use and comprehensive smoke-free laws, saying youth are particularly susceptible to visual cues to use tobacco.
“The standard for protecting the health of children and bystanders should be clean air, free of toxic second smoke as well as (e-cigarette) aerosol”, said Brian King, senior scientific advisor in CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health.
Separately, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is conducting a petition drive to collect 5,000 signatures on a plea to President Barack Obama to ensure the Food and Drug Administration issues a final rule on expanding its regulatory powers to all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, by 25 April, 2015. Such a rule must include a ban on fruit and candy flavours that appeal to youth in e-cigarette liquids and cigars.