First Longitudinal Study to Examine Progression from Vaping to Smoking among Young People Finds No Effect of Vaping

The first longitudinalstudy that examines progression from vaping to smoking among young people has been published in the journalAddictive Behaviors. The study followed college freshmen at Virginia Commonwealth University for one year to examine whether vaping at baseline was associated with the progression from never smoking to ever and/or current smoking at follow-up.(See: Spindle TR, et al. Electronic cigarette use and uptake of cigarette smoking: A longitudinal examination of U.S. college students.Addictive Behaviors 2017; 67:66-72.)As reported by Dr. Stan Glantz, the major finding of the study was that:" controlling for a wide range of demographic and behavioral variables, ... e-cigarette users at baseline were about 3.4 times as likely to be smoking cigarettes a year later as young adults who were not using e-cigarettes. "According to Dr. Glantz, the " evidence just keeps piling up " that experimentation with e-cigarettes causes youth to become cigarette smokers.The article itself concludes that:" Given that never-smoking participants who had tried e-cigarettes were more likely to initiate cigarette use later, limiting young adults ' access to these products may be beneficial. "In other words, the paper appears to be concluding, like Dr. Glantz, that e-cigarette experimentation causes youth to become cigarette smokers.These conclusions, if accurate, are ominous for the role of vaping as a harm reduction strategy in tobacco control because although e-cigarettes may help ...

Source: The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary - January 6, 2017 Category: Addiction Source Type: blogs