Study Finds That E-Cigarettes May Cause Teens To Try Out Regular Cigarettes

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A recent united states study suggest that E-cigarettes does not lead to a decline in teen smoking and the devices may actually account for a higher risk of teens shifting to smoke the traditional cigarettes. The researchers noted that there was a steady decline in youth smoking over the past decade, but no steeper decrease after the launch of e-cigarettes debuted in the United States market in 2007.

"There is strong evidence in adults, together with some, but more limited evidence in youth, that e-cigarettes are associated with less, not more quitting cigarettes," study co-author and director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, Dr. Stanton Glantz said.

He added that the fact is that many e-cigarette users are dual smokers, which simply means that they smoked cigarettes and e-cigarettes at the same time. The U.S. tobacco companies are now producing e-cigarettes - battery-powered devices with a heating element that converts liquid nicotine and flavorings into vapor which users inhale, according Reuters.

Public health experts are not unanimous as to whether the device would assist with smoking cessation or be a safer alternative to the traditional cigarettes. They debate on whether the gadget would lure the upcoming generation to nicotine addiction.

The researchers of the new study, analyzed survey data collected from more than 140,000 middle and high school students between 2004 and 2014, a period which there was decline from 40 percent to 22 percent in the overall percentages of teens who reported any smoking.

During the same period, the percentage of youth who reported themselves as current smokers dropped from 16 percent to almost 6 percent, but teen cigarette smoking rates decreased slowly after the arrival of e-cigarettes in the United States from 2007 to 2009.

In addition, the researchers found that the overall e-cigarette and cigarette use among teen in 2014 was significantly higher than total use of cigarette in 2009. They also investigated on the characteristics that might lead teen to higher rates of smoking including living with a smoker or wearing clothing with tobacco products and logos.

Although, most teen cigarette smokers in the study often seems to display the risk factors, teens who used only e-cigarettes did not show these risk factors, which suggests that at least some low-risk teens would not be involved  in nicotine products use if e-cigarettes were not an option.

The study was not focused on checking whether using e-cigarette directly influences smoking regular cigarettes, and the study authors did not analyze data on teens that already dropped out of school, who have the propensity of higher rate of tobacco use compared to youth still attending school, according to Celebnews.

However, this is the eighth long-term study which suggests teens that use e-cigarettes have a high tendency to start smoking regular cigarettes, the interim director of the Cancer Prevention and Control Program at the University of Hawaii Cancer in Honolulu, Dr. Thomas Wills said. The researchers published their report in Pediatrics.