Updated 05:20 AM EDT, Fri, Mar 29, 2024

Study Finds Teen E-Cigarette Users More Likely to Smoke Regular Cigarettes

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A new study found that young people who experimented with electronic cigarettes had a greater chance of smoking regular cigarettes, leading experts to question whether the electronic devices are a gateway to teen tobacco use.

The study, which was published online Thursday in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) Pediatrics, found that adolescents in middle and high school who had smoked tobacco were less likely to stop smoking than those who did not use e-cigarettes.

The study raises concerns that e-cigarettes, which emit a vapor that is inhaled when a battery heats a nicotine solution, are working to encourage or curb the rate of tobacco use among teens.

"In relation to the idea of smoking cessation, it didn't look like e-cigarettes were discouraging [tobacco] cigarette smoking in adolescents," said study co-author Lauren Dutra, a post-doctoral scholar at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, according to Modern Healthcare. "What we saw was that the adolescents who had used e-cigarettes were more likely to be cigarette smokers, and they are more likely to transition from experimenting with cigarettes to actually becoming regular smokers."

The findings did not give a definitive conclusion of whether e-cigarette use led young people to start smoking, but suggested that a causal link is possible. Still, e-cig critics say the study results raise concerns about teenage smoking.

"This study's findings are cause for concern and provide another reason why the FDA must act quickly to regulate e-cigarettes and stop their marketing and sale to kids," said Vince Willmore, vice president of communications for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids. "E-cigarettes are being irresponsibly marketed using the same slick tactics long used to market regular cigarettes to kids, including celebrity endorsements, glossy magazine ads that portray e-cigarettes as fun and sexy, race car sponsorships and sweet flavors."

On the other hand, e-cig advocate Professor Michael Siegel from Boston University School of Public Health said that while the study draws a correlation between smoking and e-cigarette use, there was no evidence to prove e-cigarettes led to smoking.

"The authors seem to have an axe to grind," he said, according to Reuters. "I could equally argue that what this study shows is that people who are heavy smokers are attracted to e-cigarettes because they are looking to quit."

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