Teens using e-cigarettes may be more likely to start smoking tobacco

Ecig

Students who have used electronic cigarettes by the time they start ninth grade are more likely than others to start smoking traditional cigarettes and other combustible tobacco products within the next year, according to a new study funded by the National Institutes of Health. E-cigarettes deliver nicotine to the lungs by heating a liquid solution that contains nicotine and other chemicals to produce an aerosol that the user inhales, a process often called “vaping.”

The study compared tobacco use initiation among 222 students who had used e-cigarettes, but not combustible tobacco products, and 2,308 who had neither used e-cigarettes or combustible tobacco products when initially surveyed at the start of ninth grade. During the first six months after being surveyed, 30.7 percent of those who had used e-cigarettes started using combustible tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, and hookahs, compared to only 8.1 percent of those who had never used e-cigarettes. Over the following six months leading into the start of 10th grade, 25.2 percent of e-cigarette users had used combustible tobacco products, compared to just 9.3 percent of nonusers.

Read more:: Teens using e-cigarettes may be more likely to start smoking tobacco