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Non-smokers likely to start using conventional cigarettes within a year of using e-cigarettes, finds study

Getty Images/iStockphoto
Getty Images/iStockphoto

Adolescents who use e-cigarettes are more likely to start smoking real cigarettes within a year, new research has found.

Scientists at the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) examined data collected by a national sample of more than 10,000 non-smokers between the ages of 12 and 17.

They found that those who used alternative tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes, smokeless tobacco or tobacco water pipes, were more likely to start smoking normal cigarettes those who didn’t.

“We found that teens who experimented with tobacco in any form were at greater risk of future smoking," said lead author Benjamin W. Chaffee, a professor at the UCSF School of Dentistry.

"In the last few years, research has focused on the potential of e-cigarettes to engage never-smoking adolescents in tobacco use.

“Our findings confirm that the use of the full range of tobacco products, including e-cigarettes, cigars, tobacco water pipes, and smokeless tobacco, is associated with greater odds of future cigarette smoking."

The UCSF study was based on data from more than 10,000 respondents in the Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health study, none of whom had ever tried a cigarette.

Non-cigarette tobacco products have surged in popularity in recent years, with almost 4 million senior school students using at least one in 2016, the study reports.

As for smoking the real things, it's not uncommon for teens to experiment at an early age, with previous studies showing that 90 per cent of adult smokers have tried their first cigarette before the age of 18.

The study was published in JAMA Pediatrics.