As cigarette consumption among all Americans continues to decrease, a new National Institute on Drug Abuse study finds that being around others who use electronic cigarettes can trigger some young people to want to smoke the real thing.
The study, conducted by researchers at the University of Chicago, had 60 young adult daily smokers ages 18-35 rated their thoughts and feelings after being exposed to a study confederate drinking bottled water (the control) and then smoking either a regular combustible cigarette or e-cigarette (which produces nicotine-laced water vapor). The subjects logged ratings on a visual analogue scale for desire of smoking a regular and e-cigarette. Exposure to the confederate smoking an e-cigarette also increased a desire among the subjects to smoke an e-cigarette.
The study shows that the rise of e-cigarettes may not be resulting in more young people choosing e-cigarettes (which may or may not be less harmful), but possibly picking up the habit for the real thing, which definitely is harmful to a young persoand that substance abuse prevention programs and substance abuse counselors need to be on the look out for this trend among teens and clients.
“These results highlight the need for more research into the effects of exposure to e-cigarettes in order to help prevent smoking in young adults,” the NIDA wrote in a blog item.
E-cigarette use can lead to smoking real thing
