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Trying Multiple Tobacco Products in Teens Tied to Later Daily Smoking

Electronic cigarette use increases the risk for later daily cigarette smoking more than threefold

MONDAY, Jan. 11, 2021 (HealthDay News) — Trying multiple tobacco products and electronic cigarettes before age 18 years is associated with later daily cigarette smoking, according to a study published online Jan. 11 in Pediatrics.

John P. Pierce, Ph.D., from the University of California in San Diego, and colleagues examined ever use, age at first use, and daily use of 12 tobacco products among 12- to 24-year-olds from the U.S. Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health Study at wave 1 and through wave 4.

The researchers found that 62 percent of the participants tried tobacco and 30.2 percent tried five or more tobacco products by wave 4. Overall, 12 percent were daily tobacco users at wave 4, and of these participants, 70 percent were daily cigarette smokers; daily cigarette smoking and daily e-cigarette vaping rates were 20.8 and 3.3 percent, respectively, in 25- to 28-year-olds . The risk for progressing to daily cigarette smoking was 15 percentage points higher among those who tried five or more products compared with single-product triers (adjusted risk difference, 15 percent). E-cigarette use increased the risk for later daily cigarette smoking versus never use (10 versus 3 percent; adjusted risk difference, 7 percent). For those who experimented after age 18 years, daily smoking was 6 percentage points lower.

“These results suggest that recent rapid growth in adolescent e-cigarette use will lead to increased daily cigarette smoking in U.S. young adults,” the authors write.

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