Study shows teen vaping has become a ‘route into nicotine addiction, rather than out of it’
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Vaping, for teenagers, has become “a route into nicotine addiction, rather than out of it”.
The caution comes after a new study suggested a significant number of teens who try vaping have never smoked.
Researchers from the Tobacco Free Research Institute Ireland said the proportion of 16 and 17-year-olds who had tried e-cigarettes had increased from 23% in 2014 to 39% in 2019.
The 39% of adolescents who said they had tried e-cigarettes compares with 32% who had tried smoking.
And 68% of those who had tried e-cigarettes said they had never tried smoking.
The main reasons teenagers gave for trying e-cigarettes were curiosity (66%) and because their friends were vaping (29%), according to figures from thousands of teenagers.
Only 3% said it was to quit smoking.
Meanwhile, researchers said youngsters whose parents are smokers are 55% more likely to try e-cigarettes.
The new research, presented at the European Respiratory Society International Congress in Barcelona, Spain, also found that these youngsters were 51% more likely to have tried smoking.
Professor Luke Clancy, director general of the Institute, said “there’s a perception that vaping is a better alternative to smoking, but our research shows that this doesn’t apply to teenagers who usually haven’t tried cigarettes prior to e-cigarettes.
“This indicates that, for teens, vaping is a route into nicotine addiction, rather than out of it.”
