New Data on Teen Vaping Raises Addiction Concerns
There is debate about whether the adolescent use of e-cigarettes could erase the progress made against smoking in the last five decades. Do electronic cigarettes pose the same risk as traditional smoking once did? Current studies on teen vaping appear to answer that question.
Simona Pichini, director of the National Centre for Addiction and Doping at Italy’s National Institute of Health (ISS) describes the way in which nicotine products are marketed toward teens and how those messages can increase the use of these products.
Pichini states, “the increasingly ‘attractive’ appearance of the devices to the creation of ‘fruity’ flavors closer to the tastes of young people is causing their use to become increasingly widespread.”
How Teen Vaping Mirrors the Smoking Epidemic
A study published in the Tobacco Control journal tracked thousands of smoking rates from three UK cohort studies. The studies focused on 160 and 17-year-olds in 1974, 1986 and 2018.
They factored in data that looked at additional risk factors like alcohol consumption, school engagement, verbal ability, and parent reported externalising behaviors. They also included paternal occupation status, parental tobacco use and data on past and present e-cigarette use.
The study found that adolescent smoking has declined from 33% in 1974 to 12% in 2018 while risk factors such as alcohol increasing the odds of smoking stayed consistent. In fact, according to data from the Rehab.com Drug Use Statistics Report, two in five teens and young adults report binge drinking on college campuses.
What This Means for Prevention and Early Treatment
The current data suggest that teen vaping can lead to smoking tobacco products which researchers think may be what ultimately reverses any progress made. Concerns about this are seen more prominently in Italy where more than 20% of teens use tobacco and the use of e-cigarettes have jumped from 7% to 20% since 2018. The ISS found that 60% of teens who smoke or vape are using multiple nicotine products.
Early nicotine dependence is also associated with higher rates of future substance use. This makes early intervention critical for long-term health outcomes.
Looking ahead, curbing this trend will require a concerted effort on outreach, advocacy and education programs aimed at adolescents and teen drug use specifically in the e-cigarette and vaping sectors.
Get Help for Teen Vaping and Nicotine Addiction
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