Teens who try e-cigarettes or vaping are four times more likely to start at least one of the traditional modes of consuming tobacco: cigarettes, cigars, and hookahs. A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association outlines the research supporting this.
Is vaping the gateway to smoking?
The study was conducted among 9th graders from 10 public schools in California over a period of one year (Fall 2013-Fall 2014). From the pool of students, only those who had never smoked conventional cigarettes were chosen for the study. They were followed-up twice: six and twelve months after the study initiation.
They completed self-reported surveys at each of these time points answering questions about their usage of conventional tobacco products (cigarettes, cigars, and hookah). Both the follow up time points showed higher consumption of conventional tobacco products among students who used e-cigarettes.
At the end of the study, they found that teens who smoked e-cigarettes were two and half times more likely to try cigarettes, five times more likely to smoke cigars, and three times more likely to use hookah. These results present new evidence that vaping at an early age could be putting teens at a risk of taking to conventional smoking in the future. However, the authors clearly state that this study doesn’t establish a causative relationship between vaping and smoking. This could mean that common risk factors may be driving teens to both e-cigarettes and smoking; one need not necessarily cause the other.
The rise of e-cigarette usage
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), usage of e-cigarettes has tripled between 2013 and 2014. This could have detrimental effects on their still developing brains, despite the fact that e-cigarettes have lower nicotine content. It is believed that adolescents are particularly vulnerable to ‘graduate’ to conventional tobacco use, as they are prone to risk-taking behavior and their developing brains are sensitized to the effects of nicotine.
Are e-cigarettes safer than conventional ones?
E-cigarettes were introduced as a healthier alternative to conventional cigarettes and as a means for adults to gradually quit smoking. It still remains so. It might only be problematic in the hands of impressionable adolescents whose brains might drive them to seek more nicotine as they grow up.
Did you know that e-cigarettes come in different flavors?
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