The most widespread nicotine product among Americans is still tobacco cigarettes, although e-cigarette popularity has recently increased, particularly among former smokers. There are significant concerns that e-cigarettes will encourage more people to consume nicotine, especially young people. E-cigarettes serve as an entry point to nicotine use in adolescents by increasing dependency, which in turn generates a higher probability that youth will use e-cigarettes for the majority of their lives.
There are a few research comparing e-cigarette addiction to tobacco dependence. Study shows that electronic cigarette consumers consider vaping as causing less severe addiction, even though nicotine e-cigarette consumption can create peak nicotine levels equivalent to smoking cigarettes (Morean et al., 2018). According to World Health Organization (2022), both E- and traditional cigarette products have potential dangers. The risks of using electronic or tobacco products are most likely to differ depending on several variables, some related to the products consumed and others to the particular user. The type and product attribute, its use, including regularity of use, its production, who is consuming the product, and if any of the product’s features are altered after the product has been sold are all variables.
However, experts highlight at least two aspects in which e-cigarettes may be better than traditional cigarettes. Firstly, because they do not contain the flammable materials that present such significant health risks in traditional cigarettes, e-cigarettes may function as a harm minimization strategy (Selya et al., 2018). Even while e-cigarettes may have some chemicals and carcinogens, users who rely on them to substitute a portion of their conventional tobacco use are probably decreasing their overall exposure to hydrocarbons and toxins, thereby lowering their health effects. Another theory is that e-cigarettes could be beneficial for aiding traditional smokers in quitting. E-cigarettes are frequently marketed to help consumers reduce the amount or stop smoking traditional cigarettes, which is a frequent cause for their use.
Another point is presented by vaping, which causes youths to become addicted to nicotine. However, people who currently or previously smoked had substantially higher rates of addiction than adolescents who have never tried vaping (Balfour, 2021). To the degree that vaping makes previously tobacco-averse young people addicted to nicotine, however, aggressive measures are required to lower youth vaping. Recent policy concern has been limiting the supply of flavored e-cigarettes, which are popular among adolescents. While taste restrictions may decrease young people’s interest in e-cigarettes, they may also affect adult smokers’ use of vaping to quit. Adults prefer flavors other than tobacco, similar to young people who choose fruity and sweet flavors.
Therefore, the degree of nicotine addiction significantly impacts the link between lifetime vaping use and traditional cigarettes. Mainly, smokers who have a high level of nicotine dependence likely to consume fewer traditional cigarettes if they had previously used e-cigarettes, whereas the opposite was seen in nondependent smokers. It might be a sign of tobacco product variety if heavily reliant smokers of cigarettes prefer to smoke less regularly if they use e-cigarettes. According to Selya et al. (2018), highly dependent consumers may be shifting to e-cigarettes to replace some of their traditional cigarette use. However, if they had previously used e-cigarettes, people with minimal nicotine addiction smoked slightly more regularly, which implies that young people should be discouraged from starting to use e-cigarettes. Thus, e-cigarettes only partially positively impact nicotine addiction but still present danger for more vulnerable smokers, such as young people with lower dependence.
References
Balfour, D. J. K., Benowitz, N.L., Colby, S. M., Hatsukami, D.K., Lando, H. A., Leischow, S. J., Lerman, C., Mermelstein, R. J., Niaura, R., Perkins, K. A., Pomerleau, O. F., Rigotti, N. A., Swan, G. E., Warner, K. E. & West R. (2021). Balancing consideration of the risks and benefits of e-cigarettes, American Journal of Public Health, 111(9). 1661-1672. DOI: 10.2105/AJPH.2021.306416
Morean, M. E., Krishnan-Sarin, S. & O’Malley, S. S. (2018). Comparing cigarette and e-cigarette dependence and predicting frequency of smoking and e-cigarette use in dual-users of cigarettes and e-cigarettes, Addictive Behaviors, 87. 92-96. Web.
Selya, A. S., Dierker, L., Rose, R. J., Hedeker D. & Mermelstein, R. J. (2018). The role of nicotine dependence in e-cigarettes’ potential for smoking reduction. Nicotine & Tobacco Research, 20(10). 1272–1277. Web.
World Health Organization. (2022). Tobacco: E-cigarettes. Web.