Teenagers who use e-cigarettes are more likely to go on to smoke tobacco, new research suggests.
The findings, based on more a study of more than 3,000 15-year-olds in the US, last night fuelled a bitter row about whether the devices can provide a ‘gateway’ to smoking.
Many public health experts are keen to promote e-cigarettes as a quit-smoking aid.
But others stress that the devices are too often marketed as a lifestyle accessory – and some believe they can even promote smoking among the young.
It is illegal to sell the devices to under-18s in the UK – but their use among teenagers is growing.
The number of schoolchildren who have ever smoked tobacco is at an all-time low, at 18 per cent, but the numbed who have ever tried e-cigarettes exceeds it, at 22 per cent.
The new research, led by the University of Southern California Keck School of Medicine, suggests that the more often children use e-cigarettes, the more often they will be smoking tobacco a few months later.
The researchers surveyed 3,084 teenagers, who had an average age of 15.5, in the autumn of 2014, asking how often they had used e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes in the previous 30 days… Read More>>
Source: Daily Mail Australia
