Researchers claim that teenagers who would never normally smoke are now starting out with so-called vaping before moving on to regular cigarettes, risking long-term health problems.
The study by the University of California, San Francisco, found the number of schoolchildren who were both smoking cigarettes and e-cigarettes – which vaporise a fluid containing nicotine and a flavouring – has risen between 2011 and 2014, suggesting that the trendy devices are a gateway to the harmful habit.
Although since October 2015 it has been illegal to sell e-cigarettes to under-18s in Britain, the wide range of flavours, such as bubblegum and blueberry, make the devices extremely appealing to young people.
The report’s authors said youths in their study who were deemed a low risk of smoking cigarettes may not have developed a regular smoking habit at all if e-cigarettes did not exist.–Dailymail
