LANSING - Ingham County is getting more strict with electronic cigarette usage for underage minors.

According to a press release from the Ingham County Health Department, a new regulation approved by the County Commissioners, electronic cigarette, otherwise known as "e-cigarettes" vendors are required to obtain a license and refuse sales to minors effective on January 1st.

Ingham County Health Department also reported that current e-cigarette usages has tripled among middle and high school students from 2013 and 2014, surpassing every other tobacco product among teens including conventional cigarettes.

Linda Vail, the Ingham County Health Officer says the new regulation prohibits the sale of electronic smoking devices to minors. However, she says the health department is aware that it won't eliminate the issue completely.

"Do minors get a hold of things like tobacco and alcohol through friends or others that buy them for them? Yes. So do we think it's going to prevent it completely? No, but we think we would seriously limit the sales of these devices to minors by a regulation that makes it illegal," said Vail.

According to Vail, a recent study out of the University of Michigan reports 17% of high school seniors have used electronic smoking devices and she says the number is rapidly increasing."

"We have about 19 percent of our population that smokes, we've got 17% already of our high school seniors that have used electronic cigarettes. So we're quickly going to see a number that exceeds our overall smoking number in the county in terms of our youth that are using these devices."

Vail also believes e-cigarette's are targeted to minors.

"Well, let's see, we sell in flavors called bubble gum, gummy bears, and other sorts of probably fruit loop and I don't know what other flavors do you think perhaps that target's minors because I think it does."

E-cigarettes function by using nicotine in a liquid form. Vail says that a quarter teaspoon of nicotine can be fatal to a child and poison control calls have risen 145 percent related to calls over e-cigarette devices.