Vaping has garnered its share of controversy in recent years. Those who are vehemently against it claim that it is luring teenagers to become hooked on nicotine and potentially on smoking as well.
But a recent study derived from a national US survey of adolescents in America has proven otherwise. The British Medical Journal published the research paper online in Tobacco Control, and it has already garnered a lot of attention.
The main argument posited by those who are against vaping is that teens are getting hooked on the nicotine included in many e-liquids used with electronic cigarettes. However, this particular study has proven otherwise. A selection of 12th grade, 10th grade and 8th grade students took part in the survey – a selection that was intended to represent the nation as a whole. Two-thirds of those who took part said they only ever used flavouring when vaping, and didn’t opt to use e-liquids containing any nicotine at all. The 65-66% figure was calculated to be higher than the figures for all other potential answers combined.
In case you were wondering, only 20% of those polled said they regularly vaped for nicotine. Adolescents have taken up vaping in a big way in recent years. Part of this is likely to be due to peer pressure, but it is good to see that only a small percentage ever vape for the nicotine hit. This flies in the face of the anti-vaping lobby, which seems to think every teenager who has ever used an electronic cigarette is getting addicted to nicotine.
There has also been speculation that teenagers prefer to vape without nicotine because they like the flavours they can get and enjoy. Nicotine may do damage to your taste buds as it makes the taste buds themselves far less sensitive than they would otherwise be. This applies to those who vape with nicotine, just as it does to smokers. Vaping without nicotine therefore means teenagers can enjoy the flavour of whatever vaping liquid they choose, and they don’t have to worry about getting addicted to nicotine. Some may well use e-cigs to help them quit smoking early if they’ve already picked up the habit. But some are likely using e-cigs as a status symbol or to fit in with the crowd – even though they don’t have nicotine in them.
It does make you wonder what would happen if e-cigs were taken off the market, or whether they were made more difficult to get hold of. There has to be a proportion of teens who are vaping to look good among their peers. There might even be a few who say they vape with nicotine when actually they just use a flavoured e-liquid without nicotine present.
It will be interesting to look ahead a few years to see if the number of young smokers taking up that particular habit has dropped. Vaping has been promoted as being a lot safer than smoking for many reasons, even when nicotine is involved. Without it, it could just be offering a smarter alternative for impressionable young teens in America who might otherwise be more tempted to smoke.
We’ve certainly heard before that there’s precious little evidence to suggest vapers later go on to smoke cigarettes. The results of this survey would also suggest there’s little to worry about in terms of teens getting hooked on nicotine by starting to vape. There’s a chance some might, but is this better than getting hooked on cigarettes in the first place?
What’s your opinion on the results of this survey? Do you agree that vaping would be safer than smoking where teens are concerned?
