New Research Shows Teens Who Try E-Cigarettes Are More Likely to Try Traditional Cigarettes

A study just published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that teenagers who try e-cigarettes are more likely to try traditional cigarettes.

The authors say that while this is not proof that “vaping” leads to smoking, their results constitute strong evidence that vaping could be a gateway to smoking, NBCNews reports.

The study was led by Adam Leventhal of the Keck School of Medicine at the University of Southern California. His team surveyed more than 2,500 Los Angeles-area 9th graders who said they had never tried any tobacco products at six-month intervals. The surveyed the teens three times: when they started high school, six months later, and again at the start of 10th grade. More than 200 of the students said they had tried e-cigarettes, and six months later, 31 percent said they had also tried a traditional tobacco product such as a cigarette or a cigar in the past six months. Only 8 percent of those who had never tried vaping had tried a tobacco product, according to NBCNews. A year later, 25 percent of those who had vaped said they had also smoked tobacco in the past six months, compared to 9 percent of non-vapers. Leventhal said, “While we cannot conclude that e-cigarette use directly leads to smoking, this research raises concerns that recent increases in youth e-cigarette use could ultimately perpetuate the epidemic of smoking-related illness.”

According to the researchers, the study results could simply indicate that some teenagers are more rebellious than others and are eager to try new things. Some teens may be more easily susceptible to the nicotine they inhale from both e-cigarettes and traditional tobacco products. Leventhal said teenagers who enjoy inhaling nicotine via e-cigarettes could be more likely to experiment with other forms of nicotine delivery, including smokeable tobacco, according to NBCNews.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports a big jump in electronic cigarette use among middle and high school students in the last two years. Use is up from 4.5 percent in 2013 to 13.4 percent in 2014, while, over the same period, cigarette use fell from 12.7 to 9.2 percent, according to NBCNews.

Matthew Myers, president of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, called the study results “troubling new evidence” that e-cigarettes are introducing teens to nicotine use and possible addiction. He is concerned that e-cigarettes could serve as a gateway to other tobacco products. “[T]his study confirms that we should continue to vigilantly watch teen smoking patterns,” said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, which helped fund the study. E-cigarettes might not produce all the carcinogens found in tobacco smoke, but Volkow warned they do carry the risk of nicotine addiction. And because e-cigarettes are so new to the market, their long-term health effects are not yet known.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), under authority granted in 2009, is expected to release new regulations for e-cigarettes any time now. Proposed regulations include warning labels on the devices and a ban on the sale to minors. Health authorities have expressed concern about the nicotine liquids used in e-cigarettes. The CDC says there has been an increase in calls to poison control centers and visits to emergency rooms for nicotine-related symptoms. The liquid can be fatal for small children who ingest it, even in small amounts.

 

 

 

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