NEWS
THE CLOSED GATEWAY
A new study reveals that vaping does not
lead to combustible cigarette smoking
Vaping has long been demonised as
a gateway to combustible cigarette
smoking. Guilt by tenuous association
has been the excuse for regulators
trying to throw vaping and cigarette
smoking into the same cage for years
now. Inhalation and optional inclusion of
nicotine are where the similarities end;
when regulators failed to find adequate
connections
between
vaping
and
smoking, they pushed the idea that one
was leading users to the other.
A study from the University at Buffalo
and University of Michigan has provided
strong evidence that vaping does not lead
to smoking.
Lynn Kozlowski, Phd and professor of
community health and health behaviour
at University at Buffalo headed the study.
18 ISSUE 11 VAPOUROUND MAGAZINE
“The national trends in vaping and cigarette
smoking do not support the argument that
vaping is leading to smoking,” she said.
“There is little evidence that those who
have never smoked cigarettes or never
used other tobacco products and first try
e-cigarettes will later move on to cigarette
usage with great fre quency or daily,
regular smoking.”
Most “gateway” fears are centred on
children, who may be dooming themselves
to a lifetime of bad habits. This study was
done with children in mind, and its results
may have slain both birds with one stone.
Professor Kenneth Warner professor of
public health for Michigan’s School of
Public Health, co-authored the research.
He was displeased with how e-cigarette
research has been previously conducted.
“The evidence from the prospective
studies is weak at best,” he said. “All
that it demonstrates is that there is a
connection between kids who vape and
future experimentation with smoking.
Even if there is a small gateway effect,
it is totally swamped by the overall trend
toward less and less smoking.”
The two professors hope their study will
not only end a stubborn and prevalent
myth about smoking and vaping, but
improve the standard for how future
studies are conducted and embolden
researchers by providing a more solid
academic foundation.