It ’ s a matter of causations vs correlation . The authors of these studies and countless others see similarities between two variables that lead them to conclude that young vapers will develop into smokers . Going by that logic , you could also say that playing with Lego or eating ice cream as a child will lead to a smoking habit later in life . But really the two are independent of each other . Surely , if vaping easily led to smoking , wouldn ’ t the number of vapers be going down and the number of smokers going up , or at least plateauing ? Vapers would be slipping back into old habits all the time if vaping was a ‘ gateway ’. Smoking is a gateway to vaping , not visa versa .
“ IF VAPING EASILY LED TO SMOKING , WOULDN ’ T THE NUMBER OF VAPERS BE GOING DOWN AND THE NUMBER OF SMOKERS GOING UP ?”
Last year was the first year that vaping was included in the study , which revealed that students were more likely to vape ‘ just flavouring ’ than nicotine-containing e-liquid . If nicotine is removed from the equation , so is one of the key properties that makes cigarettes so appealing .
Teenagers should not be vaping . Full stop . But rather than ignoring the fact that some do or stoking unfounded fears about a reversal of decades of smoking decline , we should see it for what it is : experimentation . Few , if any , of those non-smokers who pick up an e-cigarette will develop a habit and fewer still will walk through the mythical gateway and become smokers .
In ‘ Young People ’ s Use of E-Cigarettes across the United Kingdom : Findings from Five Surveys 2015 – 2017 ’, Lead author Linda Bauld , professor of health policy at the University of Stirling , said , “ Recent studies have generated alarming headlines that e-cigarettes are leading to smoking . Our analysis of the latest surveys from all parts of the United Kingdom , involving thousands of teenagers , shows clearly that for those teens who don ’ t smoke , e-cig experimentation is simply not translating into regular use .”
In Monitoring the Future Survey : High School and Youth Trends , the National Institute on Drug Abuse in the US reported that student use of illicit drugs other than marijuana remained at its lowest level in the past 20 years .
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