Teens who would have never smoked traditional cigarettes are now lured into vaping as e-cigarettes are perceived as less harmful and less dangerous than the combustibles, a new study has found.
The study debunks the popular belief that e-cigarettes are merely a substitute for cigarettes among adolescents.
E-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, vaporise liquids that may or may not contain nicotine.
In 2011, about 1.5 per cent of high schoolers had vaped in the past 30 days, according to the US National Youth Tobacco Survey. Four years later, that number skyrocketed to 16 per cent.
A study of 5,490 high school juniors and seniors shows tobacco use among teens in Southern California is on the rise.
In 2014, about 14 per cent of 12th-graders said they had either smoked or vaped in the previous 30 days.
A decade earlier - before e-cigarettes were sold in the US - 9 per cent of surveyed teens in this age group reported that they had smoked, said lead author Jessica Barrington-Trimis, from the University of Southern California (USC).
"If teenagers who vape are using e-cigarettes instead of cigarettes, we would have expected to see the decline in smoking rates continue through 2014," Barrington-Trimis said.
"But what we've seen is a downward trend in cigarette use from 1995 to 2004 but no further decrease in cigarette smoking rates in 2014," she said.
"The combined e-cigarette and cigarette use in 2014 far exceeded what we would have expected if teens were simply substituting cigarettes with e-cigarettes. The data suggest that at least some of the teens who are vaping would not have smoked cigarettes," she added.
The study followed five groups of high schoolers who graduated in 1995, 1998, 2001, 2004 and 2014.
Researchers collected the history of tobacco use in an individually administered questionnaire.
"An important question in the rapidly evolving landscape of youth tobacco product use is whether e-cigarettes are replacing cigarettes," said Rob McConnell, professor at USC.
"However, use of e-cigarettes by youth who would not otherwise have smoked results in exposure to the hazards of inhaled vaporised liquids and flavourings in e-cigarettes and may result in exposure to nicotine that can damage the adolescent brain," said McConnell.
The study found that the number of 12th-graders in Southern California who had smoked in the past 30 days dropped from 19 per cent in 1995 to about 9 per cent in 2004 and then levelled off, with the rate of smoking just under 8 per cent in 2014.
However, when cigarettes and e-cigarettes were combined, some 14 per cent of high school seniors in 2014 said they had smoked or vaped in the last 30 days.
"Because e-cigarettes are perceived as less harmful and less dangerous than combustible cigarettes, another concern is that teens may be introduced to nicotine use via e-cigarettes," Barrington-Trimis said.
The study was published in the journal Pediatrics.
