Young vapers less likely to go on to smoke than peers trying out other tobacco products
The observed ‘gateway’ effect of e-cigarette use among teens is “likely to be small,” with only a tiny proportion of experimental vapers going on to smoke regular cigarettes, suggests research published online in the journal Tobacco Control.
If anything, young vapers are less likely to go on to smoke regular cigarettes than their peers who try out other tobacco products first, the findings indicate.
The potential ‘gateway’ impact of e-cigarettes on teen smoking uptake has been hotly contested. And several studies have linked teen vaping to a heightened risk of smoking.
But, importantly, most of these studies have looked only at initial uptake, and not continued use, say the researchers. And for obvious reasons, no clinical trials can actually test whether e-cigarette use inevitably leads to smoking.
To try and produce a more nuanced analysis of the issues, the researchers compared first experimentation with different types of tobacco products among nearly 40,000 US teens, using responses to the National Youth Tobacco Survey for 2014-17.
BMJ Media Relations – March 17, 2021.
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