Are teenagers who use electronic cigarettes more likely to smoke? A new study says yes, however, it also brings into question the hypothesis that vaping serves as a gateway to smoking.
The study’s findings, which were published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, suggest that preexisting conditions make some teens more apt to try both. In other words, it’s not that vaping necessarily leads to smoking, but rather that some teens may be more likely to vape and smoke as a result of preexisting differences.
As a result, the study’s authors conclude that the study’s findings “suggest that both cigarettes and ENDS should be targeted in early tobacco prevention efforts with youth.”
“Ever ENDS use predicts future cigarette smoking and frequency of ENDS use has a differential impact on subsequent cigarette smoking uptake or reduction. These results suggest that both cigarettes and ENDS should be targeted in early tobacco prevention efforts with youth.”
The study’s findings are based on a sample from the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health covering roughly 12,000 teens ages 12 to 17.
By FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb’s account, the availability of e-cigs is causing more youth smoking than we’d otherwise see, but according to Jacob Sullum, a senior editor at Reason, studies like this one and general trends do not provide “much evidence” to endorse the belief that further restrictions on e-cigarette availability will reduce teen smoking. According to Sullum, it would appear to be the opposite if anything: “it seems that e-cigarettes are helping to reduce smoking among teenagers as well as adults.”
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