As more and more teens are drawn to try the modern alternative to traditional smoking, more studies surface about e-cigarettes and its effects on today's youth. A new study concludes that teens in the U.S. who are into e-cigarette smoking would eventually smoke cigarettes compared to kids who have not tried smoking any cigarettes at all.
Researchers from the University of Southern California's Tobacco Center of Regulatory Science surveyed 300 high school students and found out that among those who were reported as e-cigarette users, a representative sum, began smoking the following year. The study's lead author, Jessica Barrington-Trimis, is concerned that this might impede the progress achieved by tobacco control campaigns and would increase statistics of tobacco use again in the future (via U.S. News and World Report).
According to U.S. News and World Report, the survey respondents were students from Grades 11 and 12 with an average age of 17 years old. Out of the 300 respondents, 146 have tried e-cigarette smoking while 152 have never smoked a cigarette in their lives. Many of the 146 e-cigarette smokers vowed that they will not smoke traditional cigarettes under any circumstances.
However, after 16 months, 40 percent of e-cigarette smokers involved in the study had moved on to traditional cigarette smoking while 11 percent of e-cigarette virgins have tried traditional cigarettes. The researchers adjusted other factors such as demographics of the respondents but the difference still remained. The study concluded that e-cigarette smoking was the cause of eventual smoking of tobacco, hookahs, pipes and cigars (via U.S. News and World Report).
Parent Herald reported a study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that established the finding that teens exposed to on-ground, online and television e-cigarette advertisements are more drawn to start e-cigarette smoking. The study recommended that e-cigarette marketing and sales be regulated by the government.
In another Parent Herald article, California has passed a law banning the use of e-cigarettes in public areas. The new legislation also classified e-cigarettes as traditional e-cigarettes---therefore, encompassing the use of it under traditional smoking regulations.
On the other hand, some groups say that e-cigarettes may actually help smokers quit the habit. Watch the video below to gain more insight on how e-cigarettes does the opposite of the aforementioned study's results. Feel free to share your thoughts on the Comments section below and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
