New policy recommendations have been set by the American Heart Association for the use of e-cigarettes and their effect on controlling tobacco.

The association believes that e-cigarettes pose a new addiction problem among the younger generation. These products still contain nicotine, and are essentially tobacco products that should be subject to the same laws that traditional tobacco cigarettes are subject to.

New regulations are also being recommended by the association in order to prevent the sales and marketing of e-cigarettes to youth.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an estimated 443,000 people die prematurely from smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoke every year, and another 8.6 million suffer from a serious medical condition as a result of smoking.

Lead study author Aruni Bhatnagar, Ph.D. FAHA, and chair of cardiovascular medicine at the University of Louisville, is committed to preventing addiction among the younger generation of smokers.

“E-cigarettes have caused a major shift in the tobacco-control landscape. It’s critical that we rigorously examine the long-term impact of this new technology on public health, cardiovascular disease and stroke, and pay careful attention to the effect of e-cigarettes on adolescents,” said Bhatnagar in a statement.

The new policy statement suggests a federal ban on e-cigarettes for youth, and describes concerns over the possibility that these products may just be another entryway for nicotine addiction among the younger generation.

The new guidelines are published in the journal Circulation.