Vaporizers have been around since as early as the 60s, but hasn’t enjoyed the success it has today until the mid-2000s. Using pen and desktop vaporizers, vaping serves as an alternative to smoking because of its low nicotine content, but this presents the possibility of cigarette addiction. Since then there have been many studies discussing the relevance between cigarette smoking and vaping.
One such study took place in late 2014. It sought to answer the question, “Are adolescents vaping to progress to smoking cigarettes, or are they using vaporizers to quit smoking or curb themselves from cigarettes?” After the conclusion to this research, it was found that there was a positive correlation between smoking frequency and vaporizer use.
3282 sophomores from 10 high schools in the Los Angeles County were subjects of the longitudinal study in Fall 2014. 3251 of them were followed up towards the end of the survey in Spring 2015. There was a positive association found between baseline vaping and follow-up smoking. This connection was stronger among baseline nonsmokers than baseline smokers. Frequent vaping was linked to higher risk of heavier smoking 6 months later. Although a correlation was found, there were limitations to this study.
2 Arguments Against The Consensus
The study is limited. The survey only attempted to discover a link between the two acts, but it did not assess the reason for vaping in the first place. Smoking cessation is one result of vaping, though not a proactive reason to do so. To find any links between vaping and cessation, the desire to vape must be explored.
It may be too soon to tell. Since people started vaping, many studies like the one mentioned above have been done and the consensus has been split even. The truth is that the vaping trend is still young (about 6-10 years since people started vaping) and long term effects have yet to be discovered. Studies that show vaping leads to cigarette smoking only discover short term effects and may not be the case after all. More longitudinal studies need to be performed and only then can we see the long term effects of vaping.
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