In 2013, research already warned of its dangers: multiple young people at low risk for tobacco addiction had hooked up to electronic cigarettes.
Now, a new study published in the journal Pediatrics confirms the evidence. It was thought that electronic cigarettes helped quit smoking, and, in parallel, attracted fewer young people to this dangerous addiction.
But a group of researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) has observed, the reality is very different. In fact, the combined use of the electronic device with tobacco was higher in 2014 than the total consumption of cigarettes in 2009.
The researchers concluded that if low-risk youth had not used the electronic cigarette, they might never have gotten to smoke. According to Lauren Dutra, one of the researchers, “we found no evidence that electronic cigarettes are causing a decline in tobacco addicts among young people.”
In addition, he ruled that “the decline in tobacco use among young people is more related to health campaigns than to electronic cigarettes.” To reach these conclusions, the researchers analyzed several previous studies that have observed that adolescents who start smoking with such devices are more likely to smoke traditional cigarettes later.
Last August, the FDA limited the use of electronic cigarettes to people over the age of 18 (in California to 21). Now, the body plans to introduce a warning label on the devices in order to publicize the addictive nature of nicotine. However, the FDA’s decision does not regulate advertising or flavors, which appeal to a large part of the youth.
