The spinMyth 12 of 14
“Vaping is a gateway to smoking.”
Teens who vape are more likely to try a cigarette — but youth smoking has kept falling. In New Zealand, 1.2% of 14–15-year-olds smoke daily.
The evidence
This is a real scientific debate, so here are both sides.
For the gateway view: the US National Academies found substantial evidence that e-cigarette use increases the risk of young people ever trying a cigarette,12 and a meta-analysis found teens who vaped had around three and a half times the odds of later smoking.71
Against it: the same teenagers tend to be drawn to both (researchers call this “common liability”), and the population numbers moved the other way. US youth smoking fell two to four times faster after vaping spread,72 and modelling suggests vaping diverted more young people from smoking than it led into it.73
In New Zealand, daily smoking among 14–15-year-olds is 1.2%, and daily vaping among teens who have never smoked is 3.7% and falling.70
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Why this site exists
Nicotine hooked me. Smoke nearly killed me. Vapour gave me my breath back.
Read my story →