According to Public Health England, youth vaping doesn’t lead to youth smoking

A new British study published by Public Health England tries to better understand the potential link between youth vaping and youth smoking. E-cigarette is indeed quite successful among the young people. We may therefore wonder about the fact that e-cigarette, which is usually considered as a tobacco substitute, could really enable teenagers to stay away from smoking. And on the contrary, would e-cigarettes not lead to smoking? Previous studies have concluded in quite different ways. While vaping is generally regarder as a rather healthy way to stop smoking, or at least to reduce tobacco use, some studies have concluded that vaping could be a gateway to smoking for the youth.

This new study was conducted between 2015 and 2024 among 60.000 young people aged 11 to 16. Among the teens who have never smoked, the first attempt at vaping hasn’t necessarily turned into a more regular practice. And more particularly, results have shown that vaping is not a gateway towards more harmful habits, since tobacco use is decreasing among the youth. Since vaping has been quite fashionable for a few years now, there is today no solid evidence that could enable us to tell that vaping could lead to smoking. 

Some scientists have even concluded that electronic cigarettes are far less dangerous than traditional tobacco cigarettes, due to the absence of tar and carbon monoxyde. The government is therefore conducting a quite efficient policy by encouraging vaping in its fight against tobacco.

According to Martin Dockrell, the Tobacco Policy Director from Public Health England, the results of this study suggest that the young British are efficiently kept away from tobacco use. Indeed, the regulations aim at controlling tobacco use by protecting the youth. All the while offering adult smokers access to reliable nicotine products that are less harmful, such as electronic cigarettes.