Cancer Research UK Addresses Media's Misrepresentation Of Vape Study's Findings

Cancer Research UK, a cancer research and awareness charity formed in 2002 by the merger of the Imperial Cancer Research Fund and The Cancer Research Campaign, has issued a response to what they call “the misinterpretation by the media” of an electronic cigarette study funded by the charity that examined the possibility that vaping e-cigs might prove to be a gateway to smoking cigarettes for today’s youth.

By their account, the research, which was funded by Cancer Research UK and carried out by King’s College London, is being misinterpreted as demonstrating “strong evidence” of the ‘gateway effect’ from e-cigs to smoking.

While the study did find an association between e-cig use and smoking as well as e-cigs and smoking, this particular finding “does not mean one behavior causes the other,” Cancer Research UK clearly stated in their response.

“The study did find an association between both e-cigarette use and smoking, and between smoking and e-cigarette use. However, finding this association does not mean one behavior caused the other. This study found that it is equally likely that trying an e-cigarette “causes” trying smoking, as trying smoking “causes” trying an e-cigarette.”

According to Cancer Research UK’s analysis of the study’s findings, the findings do not provide evidence to support the concern that e-cigs are a strong gateway to smoking.

“The evidence does not therefore support the concern that e-cigarettes are a strong gateway into smoking.”

Much to the contrary of the misleading interpretations the charity addressed in its statement, the study’s findings indicate that more youth try smoking than vaping, significantly more.

Notably, youth smoking rates in the United Kingdom continue to decline while regular e-cig use among youths is primarily limited to those who have previously smoked.