If you were hoping to smoke something out of a Hello Kitty pen with a fruity flavor, you may be out of luck. This strange proposition was actually possible until the FDA decided to crack down on the sale of electronic cigarettes.

In response to the rapid increase in popularity of e-cigs in recent years, the FDA announced April 24 that it will start to regulate them. An e-cig is a battery powered device that looks like a cigarette that produces vapor when smoked. E-cigs are intended to help smoking addicts ease off real cigarettes, but the development of nicotine-free e-cigs has boosted recreational use. The FDA will prohibit sales to minors, eliminate free samples and restrict vending machine availability of e-cigs.

Reactions have been mixed, and it’s unclear how the new rules will affect sales.

“I think sales will spike as consumer confidence rises,” said Nick Molina, CEO of the International Vapor Group, a major e-cig manufacturing and distributing company. “Regulations will work to improve consistency in product quality and effectiveness.”

Boston University professor Michael Siegel, who studies the uses and effects of tobacco, predicts that in the long run, the regulations will turn people back to cigarettes and hurt overall health.

“The regulations will greatly impede innovation in the e-cigarette market,” he said in an e-mail interview.

There is no conclusive research on the various ingredients used in e-cigs, or what their potential risks are. Consumers don’t seem to mind.

“I have no idea what’s in it,” one sophomore user said.

No one does. The FDA hasn’t announced when the regulations will go in place, but once they do, they will require companies to give the FDA and the public full transparency on ingredients in e-cigs, and any new or changed products will have to be approved by the FDA before being sold.

To safeguard against unknown chemicals, some students have started to buy from local dealers, who are more straightforward about what’s in their products.

One junior has opened up a full-fledged e-cig business, using a Facebook page and a website. He gives customers exact information about the chemicals and ingredients in the e-cigs—details that many larger companies decline to share. The junior said he’s gained around 70 customers since opening the business in mid-April.

Although the ingredients in e-cigs are generally unknown, marketing displays them as a harmless alternative to cigarettes or other drugs, further increasing popularity.

“It’s all the fun of smoking without the effects or smell,” one senior boy said.

A junior boy suggested that some students are using them to replace other drugs.

“Kids are turning to e-cigs because of their ability to produce flavorful clouds of vapor without having to deal with the negative effects of smoking cigarettes,” he said.

E-cigs cost less than cigarettes. The manufacturer of popular brand PrimeVapor estimated that a two-pack-a-day smoker spends $10 a day on cigarettes—twice as much as they would on e-cigs.

With the new regulations, the FDA is trying to curb use among high schoolers, but some users said they feel as though the regulations won’t have much of an effect.

Kids will start to use e-cigs to rebel while still doing something they think is harmless, the junior predicted.

Some e-cig critics argue that while the regulations are a good start, they don’t do enough to curtail use by minors. The Campaign for Tobacco Free Kids suggested in a press release that the FDA should restrict marketing that appeals to minors and prohibit flavors that are attractive to kids.

Not everyone is listening, especially kids.

“I know it’s not going to kill me,” the sophomore said. “But I know it’s not particularly good for me.”