Comparing Ecigarette Use by Teens to Other Temptations

Electronic cigarettes and vaping have been getting their fair share of negative press as recently. Proponents against the use of ecigarettes regularly claim that they are a gateway to smoking for teens. What they often fail to mention is that when you compare vaping to other things, such as drinking and drug use, vaping is not as big of an issue.

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) released its 2015 survey about drug and alcohol use by high-school students in Ontario. The study found that 12 percent of students reported using ecigarettes in the past year.

“Survey results also showed that in 2015 more students used electronic cigarettes than tobacco cigarettes. Nine percent of students in grades seven to 12 said they smoked regular cigarettes during the past year, while 12 percent, an estimated 107,800 individuals, said they had more than a few puffs of an electronic cigarette, with or without nicotine,” says CAMH.

I don’t know about you, but that doesn’t exactly sound like an epidemic to us.

CAMH Study Findings

The study also found that:

• 9% of students reported smoking regular cigarettes in the past year
• 10% reported non-medical use of prescription opioids than smoked cigarettes
• 5% reported using ecstasy
• 20% reported using marijuana in the last year
• 46% of students reported drinking alcohol, with 19% reporting getting blackout drunk at least once

Overall, 42% of high-school students reported using no drugs at all. The one exception is the use of energy drinks. The long term trend for using alcohol, marijuana and smoking are on the decline – which is great news.

Even though slightly more teens are using ecigarettes over regular cigarettes, many of these teens are choosing ejuice without nicotine. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the survey is that more work needs to done to limit access to all of these items. Education, awareness and prevention are keys to ensuring our teens stay safe.

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Underage Vaping: Ecigs Don’t Make Teens Smoke

It is hard to imagine that one of the biggest arguments against vaping is that it’s a gateway to smoking for teens. Studies have proven it’s simply not true. This is an unfounded argument we hear time and time again from those who oppose vaping. It’s an easy argument to make, especially by people who are not educated about vaping and how it differs from smoking.

Members of the vaping community are happy to listen to objections and concerns as long they offer some sort of proof to connect ecigarettes to teen smokers. Big surprise – they can’t – because underage vaping is NOT a gateway to smoking for teens, or anyone else for that matter.

Survey says there’s no evidence that underage vaping leads to smoking in teens

A recent survey that was published in the journal Public Health has found no evidence linking ecigarettes as a gateway to smoking. The survey found that:

• 93% of youths are aware that ecigarettes exist
• Most young vapers were current or previous smokers
• Most young people said that electronic cigarettes are less harmful than traditional cigarettes
• 10% of 11-18 year olds said they have tried vaping “once or twice”
• Only 2.4% of this age group vapes once per month

These findings are consistent with other studies that have been performed about the impact of underage vaping on teens and smokers.

“These results should reassure the public that electronic cigarettes are not linked with any rise in young people smoking,” said Hazel Cheeseman, Director of Policy at the anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), which commissioned the research carried out by YouGov, in the Independent.

“Although more young people are trying electronic cigarettes and many more young people are aware of them, this has not led to widespread, regular use or an increase in smoking,” Ms. Cheeseman said.

It’s natural that young people are going to want to experiment with new things – and they will. The key is to limit their access to things like ecigs, cigarettes and alcohol until they are legally allowed to purchase these products.

Learn more about ecigarettes and teens by reading: UK Study Endorses E-Cig Vaping
Underage Vaping: Why Vaping Is Not Necessarily A Gateway To Smoking

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