The observed 'gateway' effect of e-cigarette use among teens is "likely to be small," with only a tiny proportion of experimental vapers going on to smoke regular cigarettes, suggests research published online in the journal tobacco Control.
If anything, young vapers are less likely to go on to smoke regular cigarettes than their peers who try out other tobacco products first, the findings indicate.
The potential 'gateway' impact of e-cigarettes on teen smoking uptake has been hotly contested. And several studies have linked teenvaping to a heightened risk of smoking.
But, importantly, most of these studies have looked only at initial uptake, and not continued use, say the researchers.
The conversion rate from ever to established smoking was much lower for teens who tried e-cigarettes first: 2.7%, which compares with 9% for combustible product first timers and almost 16% for non-combustible product first timers.
findings of their analysis lead the researchers to conclude: "This suggests that, over the time period considered, e-cigarettes were unlikely to have acted as an important gateway towards cigarette smoking, and may, in fact, have acted as a gateway away from smoking for vulnerable adolescents....
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