Vapes ‘do NOT help young smokers ditch habit’

Research suggests that teens who smoke and vape are up to twice as likely to be heavy smokers by the time they leave school than those who only use tobacco.

Experts said using the devices in addition to cigarettes was more likely to “anchor” tobacco use among adolescents.

They found that frequent smoking — classified as more than six cigarettes a week or 27 a month — was significantly higher among those who started vaping when they were under age 15.

By age 18, about 37 percent of those who vaped and smoked were considered heavy smokers, compared to 23 percent who only used tobacco.

Researchers said it showed the devices, heralded as cessation aids for adult smokers, could be especially harmful to young people, adding that “comprehensive steps need to be taken to reduce adolescent access to e-cigarettes.”

A team of American researchers analyzed data from more than 1,000 teenagers from the UK and about 800 US teenagers who smoked before the age of 15.

Teens up to age 17 were regularly surveyed about their use of vapes and cigarettes.

They found that more than half of teen smokers also vaped, 57 and 58 percent of the UK and US respectively.

Smokers who were also vape users in their early teens were more likely to continue smoking into their late teens, the researchers said.

About 61 per cent of UK early vapers were still smoking in their late teens compared to 50 per cent of non-vapers, with the US equivalent much lower at 42 and 24 per cent.

It was estimated that British teens who smoked and vaped in their early adolescence were 45 percent more likely to smoke in their late teens compared to those who smoked but never vaped.

They also found that teens who smoked in early adolescence but did not use e-cigarettes were more likely to report no nicotine use in late adolescence, according to findings published in the BMJ journal Tobacco Control.

“Among young people who started smoking early in adolescence, early e-cigarette users were more likely to become entangled in tobacco use and smoke more heavily than those who smoked but had not used e-cigarettes,” they wrote.

They added, “Tobacco control efforts targeting adolescents should consider the risks of e-cigarettes for young smoking youth.”

The findings come after the government announced that free vape kits will be offered on the NHS to help smokers quit smoking, a world first.

Ministers said an enforcement team will also be set up to tackle underage vaping, with NHS figures showing 9 per cent of 11 to 15 year olds used e-cigs in 2021, up from 6 per cent in 2018.

Commenting on the study, John Britton from the University of Nottingham said: ‘This study concludes that a link between vaping and continued smoking in adolescents who started smoking very young is consistent with vaping entrenched smoking.

An alternative hypothesis, that vaping is confused with more severe nicotine addiction by adolescent smokers, does not appear to be considered. Most adolescent vaping is transient; those who persevere are probably the most addicted smokers and thus the least likely to quit.’

The authors emphasized that their findings were observational and that further research is needed.

Dr. Sharon Cox, of University College London’s Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, said it was wrong to suggest that vaping was the cause of the addiction.

She said: ‘Tobacco smoking is by far the more dangerous product of the two, and by implicating vaping as a cause and perpetuator of smoking we risk losing sight of how addictive and harmful smoking is.

‘Cigarettes have been addictive for young people for a long time, and this newspaper shows that that hasn’t changed.’