E-Cigarettes – Help Adults Quit or Hook Kids In?

We hear all the time about how "harmless" vaping is and how it helps adults quit nicotine but there seems to be another side to coin. Time Magazine reports on n

ew data shows that young people who use e-cigarettes are much more likely to start using conventional cigarettes within a year compared to peers who do not use e-cigarettes. That seems counter intuitive but researchers from the University of Pittsburgh and Datrmouth looked at 700 people between the ages of 16 and 26 who did not smoke cigarettes.

At the beginning of the study, the men and women were asked if they would try a cigarette if a friend offered them one, and if they thought they would smoke a cigarette within the next year. Those who answered "definitely no" were found to be "non-susceptible" to cigarette smoking.

When the group was surveyed a second time in the following year, 16 participants said they had used e-cigarettes. Of those 16 people, 37.5 percent used cigarettes a year later. By contrast, just 9.6 percent of those who did not use e-cigarettes actually progressed to smoking cigarettes.

Now that;s not a huge number of smokers and the FDA admits, "It is not known whether e-cigarettes may lead young people to try other tobacco products, including conventional cigarettes, which are known to cause disease and premature death."

Still,researchers say things have changed. This study, in combination with other recent findings, raises more concerns about some potential harm to the public health. (Time)