Involvement in risky behavior is associated with e-cigarette use and e-cigarette susceptibility in college students aged 18-23 years, according to Megan L. Saddleson of the University at Buffalo, State University of New York, and her associates.
About 30% of study participants reported e-cigarette use, and 15% reported current use. Participants who had ever used e-cigarettes were at an increased risk for use of other tobacco products besides cigarettes, marijuana use, and lower e-cigarette harm perception. Current e-cigarette use, in addition to the above risk factors except marijuana use, also was associated with an increased risk of binge drinking. E-cigarettes, however, did not appear to be a gateway to cigarette use – only 2.3% of all participants reported using e-cigarettes first.
“Given the prevalence of other tobacco, alcohol, and past-year marijuana use among these college students, prevention efforts may be better targeted at all types of drug use, rather than focusing solely on e-cigarettes alone as being a ‘gateway,’ especially insofar as e-cigarettes likely pose lower risks compared with alternate products,” the investigators recommended.
Find the full study in Drug and Alcohol Dependence (doi:10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2015.01.001).