English study: vaping does not lead to smoking

In Europe, vaping is still falsely accused of being a gateway towards smoking cigarettes. People across the English Channel are more open-minded, however, which is part of the reason why vaping is so popular in the UK.

Contrary to popular belief, a new study involving British teenagers has just proven that vaping does not lead to smoking cigarettes. Tobacco has of course suffered from bad press for years, especially amongst young people. However, the recent rise of vaping hasn’t led to further criticism of tobacco, but in fact quite the contrary.

A study that improves vaping’s image

The study, published in the British Medical Journal’s Thorax review, took a second look at smoking data between 1998 and 2015. The study shows that the amount of teenagers that have tried smoking dropped from 60% to 19% in 17 years. Despite the arrival of the e-cigarette in 2010, the amount of underage smokers did not go up, as noted by Graham Moore from the University of Cardiff.

It seems that certain people have taken the latest studies for granted, as multiple American studies have suggested the opposite conclusion. Most notably, this is the case of a study published in the JAMA journal in 2015, which concluded that vapers are more inclined to try cigarettes than non-vapers.

Other detractors of Moore’s study, including professor Klein from the University of Illinois, have criticized the period that Moore analyzed for his study. Since the research ended in 2015, it does not represent, according to Klein, the cruel realities of vaping.

Between 2015 and 2019, the use of e-cigarettes has greatly increased, and this may indeed have had an effect on how the public views smoking. Traditional, combustible cigarettes may indeed tempt teenagers who have become dependent on nicotine.

It appears that only the most recent studies will be able to silence critics. If Moore thought that the e-cigarette would finally be adopted in favor of cigarettes, it seems he didn’t take into account just how many detractors there still are.