NEWS
E-cigarettes
ARE NOT A TEEN
GATEWAY DRUG
Survey reveals teenage vapers are “not more
likely to become smokers”
Words: Lucy MacKinnon
An analysis of over 12,000 US middle and high school
students found that vaping should not be considered as a
gateway drug.
The study published in the medical journal Nicotine and
Tobacco Research used an unconventional method:
considering pre-existing factors in teen lifestyles.
This research argues that influences, such as being around
tobacco smoking at home, could have an effect on the
likelihood of a teenager becoming a smoker.
The methodology has been praised as smoking fi gures
are well known to differ depending on other demographics
such as race, gender and behavioural characteristics.
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Factors such as how often an individual teenager took risks
and how often they were disciplined were considered when
the data was presented.
These characteristics or influences were coined ‘shared
risk factors’ in the research paper.
Lead author Arielle Selya explains this research undermines
the hypothesis that e-cigarettes are a gateway drug to
smoking conventional cigarettes.
The data demonstrates that although vaping teenagers
were more likely to try a tobacco cigarette, they were not
necessarily more likely to become regular smokers.
The research paper concludes: