Washington: You might have thought e-cigarettes cut down tobacco consumption, but the reality is a bit different.
A study, by University of California- San Francisco,suggests that it actually attracts more youths towards tobacco consumption.
It has been published in Pediatrics.
Researchers from University Of California in the United States of America said they did not find any evidence of decline in the consumption of tobacco. In fact, the usage of e-cigarettes & cigarettes has gone higher among adolescents in 2014 compared to the numbers from 2009.
“We didn’t find any evidence that e-cigarettes are causing youth smoking to decline,” said lead author Lauren Dutra.
The analysis by the researchers also saw that section of youth who start smoking e-cigarettes are more likely to draw themselves in consuming traditional cigarettes in later part of their lives.
“While some of the kids using e-cigarettes were also smoking cigarettes, we found that kids who were at low risk of starting nicotine with cigarettes were using e-cigarettes,” Dutra said. “Recent declines in youth smoking are likely due to tobacco control efforts, not to e-cigarettes.”
In August 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, already restricted the purchase of e-cigarettes to adults aged 18 years and older. The FDA also directed to have a warning label on e-cigarettes which will start from August 2018.
The authors also said that there has been a decline in cigarette smoking youth but the decline has not been rapid after the advent of e-cigarettes in the U.S. between the years 2007 and 2009.
The authors performed an in-depth analysis of the psychological characteristics of the consumers of e-cigarettes. The research showed that the smokers tend to display some characteristics which non-smokers are less likely to show.
Characteristics like the tendency to live with a person who smokes or to wear clothing which displays tobacco product logo. The smokers in the national youth survey showed these characteristics, while the youth who were only using e-cigarettes displayed less of these qualities.
“E-cigarettes are encouraging – not discouraging – youth to smoke and to consume nicotine, and are expanding the tobacco market,” said senior author Stanton A. Glantz.
These new results are consistent with a similar study that took place in California last year by the researchers at the University of Southern California. The researchers also found that adolescents who consumed e-cigarettes, but not traditional cigarettes have displayed less risk factors which were commonly found among cigarette smokers. (ANI)