E-Cigarettes May Serve as Gateway to Conventional Tobacco Use for Teens

Strategic Insights -

Research conducted by the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine suggests that students who used electronic cigarettes by the time they started high school were more likely to report later use of traditional tobacco products. This finding has significant implications for understanding the impact of e-cigarettes on teen smoking patterns and highlights the need for further research on their health effects.

Key Takeaways:

  • Students who reported using e-cigarettes by the time they started high school were more likely to use traditional tobacco products later, with 31% starting to smoke tobacco within the first 6 months and 25% reporting smoking in the past 6 months over the following 6 months.
  • The study found that e-cigarette users were more likely to smoke tobacco compared to those who had never used e-cigarettes, with 8% of non-e-cigarette users smoking tobacco in the first 6 months and 9% smoking over the following 6 months.
  • The work was funded in part by the NIH's National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and National Cancer Institute (NCI).
  • Dr. Adam M. Leventhal, lead researcher, emphasizes that while they cannot conclude that e-cigarette use directly leads to smoking, the study raises concerns that recent increases in youth e-cigarette use could perpetuate the epidemic of smoking-related illness.
  • NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow notes that while teen tobacco use has declined in recent years, this study confirms the need for continued vigilance in monitoring teen smoking patterns.

Statistics:

  • 222 students in the study reported trying e-cigarettes but no smokable tobacco products at the beginning of the study.
  • 31% of e-cigarette users started smoking tobacco within the first 6 months.
  • 25% of e-cigarette users reported smoking tobacco in the past 6 months over the following 6 months.
  • 8% of non-e-cigarette users smoked tobacco within the first 6 months.
  • 9% of non-e-cigarette users smoked tobacco over the following 6 months.

Sources:

  • University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH)

+ National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

+ National Cancer Institute (NCI)

  • Journal of the American Medical Association

+ Volume 314, Number 11, September 17, 2015