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It’s often said that when opposition resorts to the topic of kids to defend their position, it probably means they’re out of real arguments. Regulators continue to debate over how electronic cigarettes should be regulated from sale to advertising. But like tobacco cigarettes, regulation and counter-campaigning seems to be inadvertently making electronic cigarettes look ever cooler.

Take advertising in the United Kingdom. A recent ad in the UK from British American Tobacco is getting flak now for making their product look way too cool. The ad is so clearly a play for looking cool and attracting young smokers that it’s actually very hard to argue against prohibitionists in this case. A pair of young statuesque 20-somethings (a guy and a girl) run through nightlife infused streets. What message is that supposed to send other than e-cigs are cool?

But the ad follows current rules about electronic cigarette advertising in the UK. Although nothing solid is in place, ad censors have decided that the product can’t be shown, health claims can’t be directly made, and almost nothing definitive can be said about the product. This forces advertisers to use exactly the kind of slick image-based advertising that people are going to cry foul over. Despite what they may think, this creates and air of mystery that wouldn’t otherwise exist. If the commercial just showed the product and said something like “Check out the new Vype electronic cigarette,” the commercial wouldn’t be near as effective.

Companies can try all they like to make their products look cool. But frankly, it’s very difficult to stand out against the massive landscape of over-stimulating static. If anything, news media, political debate, and public service announcements are only helping get awareness of electronic cigarettes to skyrocket in a way it couldn’t without their help. The more negative publicity, the more teens might say ohhh… that looks kinda cool.

Similar things are happening in the United States. Cities, states, universities, and high schools are going out of the way to highlight and possibly ban electronic cigarette use (particularly by teens). You know what teens do when told not to try something? They try it. Schools, for instance, could simply classify e-cigs as disruptive and confiscate them like they would a portable video game device or a deck of cards. But implementing large public announcements about policies on the devices, vague warnings, and even finger-wagging punishments, they inspire kids to curiosity rather than caution.

Just a couple years ago, market research found that teens mostly thought electronic cigarettes looked a little silly, weren’t that interesting, and, if they were going to consume nicotine, it’d be through smoking rather than vaping. But now that regulators, public health organizations, parent groups, and anti-smoking fanatics are all out there pushing how bad e-cigs “probably might be,” kids can’t help but grow a curiosity for the devices. And these kids mostly have unfettered access to the internet — which provides an opportunity to find arguments invalidating much of the bullshit.

Some officials actually believe that kids who start with electronic cigarette use are likely to move on to smoking. They use this as an argument for fierce anti-e-cig legislation. So far though, there’s no evidence of that. In fact, it appears electronic cigarettes are much more likely to prevent kids from jumping to far more harmful cigarettes. Regulations, campaigns, and decisions against electronic cigarettes remain largely based on maybes and could bes.

Kids are wise to this sort of fear mongering — especially by the time they hit their late teens. The more they detect they’re being told a lie for their own good, the more they tend to go figure it out for themselves. It hasn’t worked with cigarettes and it’s not going to work with e-cigs. Yet again, excessive rules and counter programming only inspire interest in the devices rather than fear. Providing kids with the facts though, may help them make informed decisions. You’d be surprised how often treating kids like adults can remedy situations like this.

Breaking the rules is still very much a rite of passage for kids that want to be cool. In my late elementary school years, I learned quickly that interrupting the teacher with jokes and flipping the bird when she wasn’t looking was a quick way to endear myself to the other kids in class. The more e-cigs are made the taboo, the more kids will want to use them. And despite what adults may think, they will look cool to other kids.

Better to be honest about the devices. Will they kill you? The signs point to no. Will they make you look cool? That’s up to everyone but you. Is there much point to them if you aren’t already a smoker? Yes, but it may not be worth the complication and cost.

Better to burn your cash on fixin’ up Greased Lightning.