According to the national Center for Disease Control and Prevention, between 2013 and 2014, the use of e-cigarettes has tripled among teenagers.

In 2014, a study by the National Youth Tobacco Survey showed that e-cigarette use increased from 4.5 percent to 13.4 percent, according to the Contra Costa Times.

“We want parents to know that nicotine is dangerous for kids of any age, whether it’s an e-cigarette, hookah, cigarette or cigar,” CDC Director Tom Frieden said in a statement.

“Adolescence is a critical time for brain development,” Frieden said. “Nicotine exposure at a young age may cause lasting harm to brain development, promote addiction, and lead to sustained tobacco use.”

A pediatrician at Kaiser Permanente Medical Center has expressed his concern over the use of the product by young people

“These are just as addicting as regular cigarettes,” he said. “Nicotine is probably the most addicting agent to the human brain.”

Senator Barbara Boxer of California personally sent letters to the top five e-cigarette manufacturers. Boxer along with other Democratic senators have begun to push the Federal Trade Commission to investigate the marketing practices of the e-cigarettes as well as asking the companies to refrain from advertising on television.

“Today’s (Thursday’s) report is a wake-up call to all of us that more and more of our kids are becoming addicted to e-cigarettes,” Boxer said in a statement.

“If e-cigarette companies are serious about helping people quit smoking, they must stop targeting our kids with their products and pull their advertisements from television,” Boxer said.

In January, an advisory from the California Department of Public Health was released stating the huge rise in e-cigarette use with young people. They also noted that there had been a surge in calls to California poison control centers in relation to exposures to the nicotine-containing e-liquid as well as calls reporting e-cigarette poisonings. Over 60 percent of the calls involved children age 5 and younger.

Following in March, California public health officials started a $7 million information campaign across a very broad spectrum, hoping that they could stop the increasing popularity of the e-cigarettes.

In May, Southern California can expect to see public advertisements on large billboards and in direct mail to aide the campaign.

According to the data collected, e-cigarettes have officially surpassed the use of conventional cigarettes.