Pressure continues to mount for stronger regulation of e-cigarettes in Hawaii, especially considering what some are calling an alarming increase in use by minors.

A University of Hawaii Cancer Center researcher on Wednesday joined the American Association for Cancer Research and the American Society of Clinical Oncology in calling for federal, state and local governments to not only regulate e-cigarettes but also to ban all youth-oriented e-cig advertising and marketing.

Thomas Wills, interim director of the UH Cancer Center’s Prevention and Control Program, said endorsing the policy statement by the two prominent research organizations only makes sense considering his own research showing the rate of e-cigarette use by Hawaii youngsters among the highest in the U.S.

Meanwhile, state Sen. Josh Green, chairman of the Senate Health Committee, said Wednesday he plans to make e-cigarette regulation a priority in the upcoming legislative session.

Green, a Hawaii island Democrat who represents Naalehu and Kailua-Kona, said he’s supporting a proposal to create regulatory parity with traditional cigarettes. Under the proposal, e-cigarettes would be banned everywhere traditional smokes are in Hawaii, including public buildings, beaches and restaurants.

"We should have the same standard as for regular cigarettes," he said, adding that it might even extend to imposing the same level of taxes.

Green said he also expects to see bills to allow the state Department of Health to regulate e-cigarettes in regard to their nicotine content and to raise the age at which one can legally purchase an electronic smoking device from 18 to 21.

"We’re seeing a lot of 18- and 19-year-olds buying them for younger teens," he said.

Green, a physician, said he’s taking the issue seriously before it becomes a health problem.

"I’m very worried today’s e-cigarette users will be tomorrow’s traditional cigarette smokers," he said.

The most recent National Youth Tobacco Survey found that e-cigarette use is growing fast among youngsters under 18, and a recent National Institute on Drug Abuse survey found "surprising high use" among teens.

In Hawaii, the Health Department’s Hawaii Youth Tobacco Survey showed that e-cigarette use among high school students tripled between 2011 and 2013, and quadrupled among middle school students during the same time period.

Wills’ UH study, published last month in the journal Pediatrics, found that nearly 30 percent of more than 1,900 teens surveyed on Oahu tried e-cigarettes. That was a level more than double the percentage of U.S. high-schoolers surveyed in a national study.

Electronic cigarettes, also called e-cigarettes or electronic nicotine delivery systems, are battery-operated devices that heat flavored liquid until it produces a vapor but no smoke. There are more than 250 e-cigarette brands on the market.

Supporters claim electronic cigarettes are safe.

"E-Vapor products have been on the domestic market for close to eight years now and are being enjoyed by over 6 million Americans daily," said Thomas Keklas, co-founder of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, a Georgia-based nonprofit that provides information and support to the e-cigarette industry. "In this time there have been billions and billions of uses of e-Vapor products without a single incidence of harm."