(WHO Calls for Increased Taxation on Tobacco Products)
Students answered surveys after six months and then again after one year of enrollment, describing their use of any combustible tobacco products. Those who used e-cigarettes were more likely than students who did not try the devices to report smoking cigarettes, cigars or hookahs during the study period. In all, 31 percent of e-cigarette users tried other forms of tobacco, compared to eight percent of non-vapers, after six months of follow up.
Some experts stressed that the findings do not show cause and effect. "The new study does not show that vaping leads to smoking," said Peter Hajek, professor of clinical psychology at the University of London.(More Teenagers Trying E-Cigarettes Than Tobacco, US Study)
"It just shows that people who are attracted to e-cigarettes are the same people who are attracted to smoking," he added. "Despite the headlines this study will generate, there is no evidence to suggest that experimentation with vaping among non-smokers leads to even regular vaping, let alone to smoking."