According to a new study on e-cigarettes recently funded by three US agencies, vaping could reduce tobacco-related deaths by up to 21% for people born after 1997. The study was conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), the Cancer Prevention and Surveillance Network (CISMN), and the National Cancer Institute (NCI). And the statistics show that this is very good news for the next generation.
Numerous studies have been conducted in recent years that suggest that vaping is a gateway to smoking among young people. One famous example was a 2016 study conducted by the University of California that found that more than half of students who vaped would eventually switch to smoking. Another study from scientists at the University of Southern California predicted that the rate of teenage smoking would increase tenfold compared to previous generations.
Most of these claims have been disputed by many in the industry, even the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has joined in. According to a CDC study titled “Tobacco Use Among U.S. High School and College Students” between 2011 and 2016, smoking rates among college students dropped by 11.3% in 2016. The study, by NIDA, CISMN, and NCI, sought to demonstrate that e-cigarettes are a barrier to smoking rather than a conduit.
How is this e-cigarette research different?
The study, titled “Decision Applications: A Theoretical Model to Estimate the Public Health Impact of Vaporized Nicotine Products in the United States,” was published on the Nicotine & Tobacco Research website. Lead author David Levy of Georgetown University Medical Center said his study used more scientific principles than previous studies that have been criticized.
Levy’s study involved administering different groups of young vapers. One group was made up of people who only vaped without using tobacco. The other group was made up of people who vaped as a substitute for smoking.
The flawed studies published by the University of Southern California and the University of California failed to make this distinction. In fact, the line is so thin that the separation is only theoretical, with most requiring subjects to try vaping for up to 30 days.
Levy also added that too much government oversight of the vaping industry will hinder the development of safer and healthier e-cigarette technology in the future. In addition, Levy's team was frank in saying that more research is needed to confirm the predicted figures on tobacco-related deaths in the coming years, the team believes that the health benefits of vaping and e-cigarettes far outweigh the associated harms.
Source: Matt Rowland - vapes.com
Translated by: The Vape Club
