UK Study seeks to Debunk Gateway Theory

The longtime question of Smoking vs Vaping has been plagued by at least one topic for sure:
Will kids and teenagers who vape move on to smoking combustion cigarettes?

One British Study of 5 different surveys across the UK Indicates that such fears are largely unfounded. 

The study is the largest of its kind and was based on five separate surveys gathering data from 2015 to 2017, is from a collaboration including experts from Public Health England.

According to the authors, a tenth to a fifth of 11- to 16-year-olds had tried e-cigarettes, but only 3% or less used them regularly and those were mostly already tobacco smokers. Among young people who have never smoked, regular use of e-cigarettes was negligible, resting between only 0.1% and 0.5%.

“This pattern was consistent across different surveys from around the UK and suggests that, for now, experimentation with e-cigarettes does not necessarily translate into regular use, particularly among never smokers,” the conclusion reads.

“Recent studies have generated alarming headlines that e-cigarettes are leading to smoking. Our analysis of the latest surveys from all parts of the United Kingdom, involving thousands of teenagers shows clearly that for those teens who don’t smoke, e-cig experimentation is simply not translating into regular use." says lead author Linda Bauld, professor of health policy at the University of Stirling.

“Our study also shows that smoking rates in young people are continuing to decline. Future studies on this subject need to continue to monitor both experimentation and regular use of e-cigarettes and take into account trends in tobacco use if we are to provide the public with accurate information.”

While Professor Bauld's research is ground breaking and extremely necessary in our current information climate, she reminds readers that Vaping is not without some risk.

The Royal College of Physicians released a study previously that found Vaping carried only 5% of the dangers that combustion cigarettes, and another found only 1% of the cancer risk associated with smoking.

All of this evidence seems to go a long way in promoting Vaping as an excellent tobacco alternative, and touts extremely high harm reduction results.