Teens who use e-cigs more likely to start smoking

All participants were considered “non-susceptible” to initiating traditional cigarette smoking at the beginning of the study, because they had responded “definitely no” when asked if they would try a cigarette offered by a friend or believed they would smoke a cigarette within the next year.

And the third group were those who classified themselves as smokers.

Only 10 percent of those who did not smoke e-cigarettes later went on to smoke traditional cigarettes, the study found.

After a year, 11 of the 16 e-cigarettes smokers (68.9 per cent) had progressed to using traditional cigarettes.

The study, conducted by the CVS Health Research Institute, evaluated cigarette pack purchases at drug, food, big box, dollar, convenience and gas station retailers in the eight months after CVS/pharmacy stopped selling tobacco products.

They do, however, note that though they found a substantial risk associated with being an e-cigarette user, there were only a small number of e-cigarette users (2.3 per cent) at the start of the study.

E-cigarettes are still not fully studied, the FDA says. However, study author Dr. Brian A. Primack, director of CRMTH, disagrees with the notion that there’s not enough information to determine the public health risk of e-cigarettes. The number of middle school and high school students using electronic cigarettes tripled from 2013 to 2014, according to government figures released this spring, a startling increase that public health officials fear could reverse decades of efforts combating the scourge of smoking.

Primack noted that e-cigs now aren’t subject to numerous laws that regulate traditional cigarettes, such as age limits and taxes, and that “they also come in youth-oriented flavorings… such as apple bubble gum and chocolate candy cane” that are barred for regular smokes.

‘Forms of cannabis that can be vaporised, like hash oil, can be many times stronger than marijuana that is smoked, ‘ Professor Morean told Reuters Health.

The trend for young people to graduate to tobacco cigarettes is boosted by several factors, according to the study. Contrary to the study findings, e-cigarettes have been marketed as a deterrent to smoking. “Therefore, it is important to continue surveillance of both e-cigarettes and tobacco products among young people so policymakers can establish research-informed regulations to help prevent e-cigarettes from becoming gateway products on the road to youth smoking”.

There are plenty of manufacturers all over the world who now produce a variety of e-liquids that can be used in the many vaping devices available.

‘What we still need is the political will to act on the evidence and protect our youth’.