Young people like vejpar would likely have smoked regular cigarettes if e-cigarettes were not available. This is according to a new study from the US.
"E-cigarettes can be an important tool for harm reduction at the population level. Although use is increasing among young people," the researchers behind the study conclude.
Researchers at Harvard and Brown Universities in the United States wanted to know what role known background factors play when young people experiment with cigarettes and e-cigarettes respectively.
"The proportion of young people using e-cigarettes has increased rapidly, especially among former non-smoking youth" the researchers write.
At the same time, they note that smoking among young people has declined at an increasingly rapid pace since e-cigarettes became popular. Much faster than researchers had previously predicted.
Compared background factors
Using data collected since 2009, when e-cigarettes were not openly available in the United States, the researchers got a picture of how smoking habits among young people changed up to 2018. The results showed that young people, aged 17 to 18 who use e-cigarettes in 2018, share a variety of background factors with smoking youth from 2009. Family circumstances, alcohol habits, parental finances and school situation were some factors that interested the researchers.
"Young people who use e-cigarettes today share characteristics with young people who smoked long before e-cigarettes were available," the researchers write.
E-cigarettes replace smoking
According to the researchers, young people would be more likely to smoke traditional cigarettes if e-cigarettes were not available. In light of the fact that e-cigarettes are likely to have significantly fewer negative health consequences, the researchers believe that the trend is heading in the right direction.
"It appears that e-cigarettes are replacing smoking tobacco among young people," the researchers write. "E-cigarettes may be an important tool for harm reduction at the population level. Although use is increasing among young people"
