Two new studies of e-cigarettes may bolster the U.S. government’s efforts to stem what it calls a growing epidemic of youth vaping.
Children and teens who had used e-cigarettes were four times more likely to have taken up cigarette smoking than those who didn’t vape, according to a study published Friday in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Almost 179,000 youth who have tried cigarettes and more than 43,000 who are currently smoking would not be if they had never started vaping, the study found.
The link between vaping and cigarette use was particularly pronounced in those thought to be low-risk for smoking given their lack of prior drug and alcohol use, according to the study.