Vaping Teens More Likely to Move on to Cigarettes
A study published recently suggests that teenagers who use e-cigarettes are FAR more likely to begin smoking tobacco cigarettes than those who don’t try “vaping.” The study also says older teens who try e-cigs have six times the odds of trying regular cigarettes within two years than those who never used the devices.
University of Southern California researcher Jessica Barrington-Trimis, lead author of the study published in the journal Pediatrics said, “We’re concerned that kids who experiment with e-cigarettes may be moving on to other types of tobacco products, like combustible cigarettes, which are arguably a lot more dangerous.”
The findings are based on surveys conducted by USC involving about 300 high school students in southern California.
The American Academy of Pediatrics recommended in 2015 that the devices be regulated as tobacco products due to concerns they would lead teens to regular cigarettes. Last month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration took steps to crack down on e-cigarettes by banning their sales to anyone under age 18.
Dr. Michael Siegel, a proponent of e-cigarettes as a way to wean smokers off conventional cigarettes, said “What’s probably happening is these kids did not become regular vapers, (and) they turned to smoking. If they turned into regular vapers, they wouldn’t have turned to smoking.”
Draw your own conclusions, but to me this seems like another black mark against vaping.
Read the original articles here:
www.cleveland.com/nation/index.ssf/2016/06/vaping_teens_more_likely_to_st.html
www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-ecigarettes-idUSKCN0YZ0C0
Photo Credit: REUTERS / Chris Wattie
