{"id":8180,"date":"2024-12-04T11:39:00","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T10:39:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/?p=8180"},"modified":"2025-12-09T14:06:02","modified_gmt":"2025-12-09T13:06:02","slug":"new-study-dispels-nicotine-gateway-myth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/new-study-dispels-nicotine-gateway-myth\/","title":{"rendered":"New study dispels nicotine gateway myth"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Smoking among US high schoolers has \u201cbasically disappeared\u201d despite a recent surge in vaping, proving that fears about safer alternatives acting as a nicotine gateway to cigarettes among young people are overblown and unfounded.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Researchers examined more than ten years of data from the US National Youth Tobacco Survey (NYTS)<\/a> and the National Health Interview Survey (NHIS)<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aim was to compare data from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)<\/a> on smoking and vaping rates to shed light on whether e-cigarettes help reduce combustible cigarette consumption, or whether they open a nicotine gateway to youth smoking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Significant drop in smoking prevalence<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Putting the data together for the first time, the study — published in Harm Reduction Journal<\/a> — reveals that cigarette smoking among high school students decreased significantly from 15.7 percent in 2011 to just 2 percent in 2022. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Similarly, smoking among emerging young adults (ages 18-20) dropped by 86 percent over the same period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, vaping prevalence surged over the same period. Among high school students, vaping climbed from less than one percent in 2011 to a peak of 22 percent in 2019, before stabilizing around 10 percent in recent years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Emerging young adults experienced a steady increase in exclusive vaping, reaching 9.4 percent by 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quit ratios rise sharply<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The study also examined the prevalence of dual-use (smoking and vaping simultaneously) and found it to be relatively low, peaking at 5.7 percent among high school students in 2018. By 2022, dual-use rates had dropped to 1.5 percent. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Notably, quit ratios\u2014the proportion of former smokers relative to ever-smokers\u2014increased sharply, particularly among emerging young adults, rising from 15 percent in 2011 to 52 percent in 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The data show that smoking rates have declined significantly from 2011 to 2022 across every age cohort examined in the study. At the same time, rates of dual-use, while more volatile among high schoolers, also stabilized at low levels (0.8 to 3.5 percent).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Overall drop in nicotine consumption<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

And while the rapid increase in vaping among high schoolers did result in an overall increase in nicotine product consumption from 2014-2020 compared to the 2011 baseline, vaping rates stabilized by 2022.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thus, overall rates of nicotine product consumption ultimately fell for all cohorts between 2011 and 2022, indicating that e-cigarettes have largely displaced combustible cigarettes without resulting in an increase in smoking or an overall increase in nicotine product use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSmoking among high schoolers has basically disappeared,\u201d one of the authors, Brad Rodu, wrote in a blog post presenting the research<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhile the high school vaping rate was very volatile with sharp increases and declines, vaping in young adults age 18-20 was much more stable. But the smoking rate went down and stayed there, suggesting that these general trends are likely to continue. Which means that in 25 to 30 years, smoking-related diseases will disappear too.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vapes, pouches not a nicotine gateway to smoking<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The results counter claims often made by anti-nicotine activists that less harmful nicotine products like e-cigarettes or nicotine pouches, are a gateway to smoking and result in increased overall consumption of nicotine products by young people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOverblown fears about nicotine risk overshadowing the big picture when it comes to alternative nicotine products: they help reduce smoking,\u201d says Patrik Str\u00f6mer, Secretary General of the Association of Swedish Snus Manufacturers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe numbers here don\u2019t lie. Vaping and pouches don’t open a nicotine gateway to cigarettes. If they were, we wouldn\u2019t see such dramatic drops in smoking and such low levels of dual use.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Str\u00f6mer admits he was \u201ctroubled\u201d by the explosive growth in vaping among young people in the US. In Sweden, nicotine pouches, rather than vapes, have seen the greatest increase in popularity among young people, which he also believes is cause for concern.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cPeople under 18 shouldn\u2019t be using nicotine products of any kind, period,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHowever, it\u2019s important that these concerns don\u2019t detract from continued efforts to reduce smoking – which is by far the greatest nicotine-related public health hazard for young and old alike.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018A huge victory for public health\u2019<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Str\u00f6mer hopes policymakers and researchers in Sweden take notice of the new findings about US vaping rates and smoking rates as they consider different approaches to regulating nicotine pouches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAs we find ourselves on the other end of the hype cycle for these new products and see how usage has stabilized, we need to look closely at the impact on smoking rates and overall nicotine consumption,\u201d he explains.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThat smoking rates remain low among young adults in the US – who a few years ago were high school students when vaping rates were at their highest – is convincing evidence that a spike in youthful experimentation didn\u2019t result in creating a new generation of nicotine addicts as many anti-nicotine activists claim. Rather, these products help keep people away from cigarettes for good. And that is a huge victory for public health.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Smoking among US high schoolers has \u201cbasically disappeared\u201d despite a recent surge in vaping, proving that fears about safer alternatives acting as a nicotine gateway…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[313],"tags":[375,304,639,248,294,262],"class_list":["post-8180","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","tag-brad-rodu","tag-cdc-2","tag-gateway-myth","tag-patrik-stromer-en","tag-usa-2","tag-vaping"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nNew study dispels nicotine gateway myth - Snusforumet<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A surge in vaping among US teens didn't increase smoking rates, proving that safer alternatives are not a nicotine gateway to cigarettes.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/snusforumet.se\/en\/new-study-dispels-nicotine-gateway-myth\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New study dispels nicotine gateway myth - 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