A new survey has showed that high school students are more likely to try real tobacco cigarettes after vaping e-cigarettes. Teenagers are giving health officials one more reason to worry.
Teens Who Vape E-Cigarettes Are More Likely To Smoke Real Cigarettes Over the Next Year
Two surveys were conducted in a one year span. 20% of the nonsmokers in the first survey had already smoked a regular cigarette by the time the second survey was conducted. 6% of nonsmokers who had not used e-cigarettes through the first poll had tried smoking regular cigarettes in the next year.
The Journal Tobacco Control resolved that e-cigarettes had a risk-promoting effect for the onset of smoking. The research was conducted by Thomas Willis, a cancer-prevention expert from the University of Hawaii in Honolulu. He took data from 2,000 high school students in the Oahu area once in 2013 and once more in 2014.
The students were asked if they had ever smoked e-cigarettes or regular cigarettes, and how often if they did. The survey was completely anonymous, which increases the credibility of the results.
The study declared that 31% of students had already tried vaping when they took the first survey, and they were casual users. Another 21% had only done it four or fewer times ever. 2% were vaping daily, and 3% said they were vaping a few times every week. All students were more likely to try regular cigarettes than those who never tried e-cigarettes.
There were three main risk factors linked to smoking between these two surveys. The first is age, as the older the student, the greater the risk of trying e-cigarettes and eventually tobacco cigarettes. The second is ethnicity. Whites and Native Hawaiians were more likely to start smoking than Asian Americans, according to the data. The final factor was rebelliousness. More defiant students are naturally more likely to try e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes.
10% of the surveyed students had not used e-cigarettes through the first survey. But they had tried them by the second survey. The risk was higher for students who thought e-cigarettes were not as serious as regular cigarettes.
Can E-Cigarettes Be the Gateway Drug to Marijuana?
E-cigarettes are as addictive as any other drug. It could become a gateway drug to trying and eventually using marijuana. All of the substances are dangerous, whether in different levels or not. This risk might be reduced if e-cigarettes are better controlled.
