Youth Using Alternative Tobacco Products Are More Likely to Smoke 1 Year Later
In recent years, non-cigarette tobacco products have become increasingly popular among youth, especially e-cigarettes, the most common form of tobacco used by youth.
Nonsmoking adolescents who use e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or tobacco water pipes are more likely to start smoking conventional cigarettes within a year, according to new research by UC San Francisco.
The study analyzed data from a nationally-representative sample of more than 10,000 adolescents, ages 12 to 17. It is the largest study to date to estimate the impact between alternative tobacco use and the subsequent start of conventional cigarette smoking in youth.
Any form of tobacco, including e-cigarettes, was associated with future smoking, the authors reported, especially when adolescents used more than one product. As a result, novel tobacco products have the potential to undermine public health gains in combatting smoking, the researchers said.