The use of e-cigarettes could result in public health benefits as adolescents turn to vaping over traditional combustible tobacco use, according to a new modeling study conducted by tobacco control experts and published in Nicotine & Tobacco Research.
The model — developed by researchers from the U.S., Australia and Canada — projected vaping's impact on public health by assessing the influence e-cigarettes have on traditional smoking patterns. The model predicted e-cigarette use can lead to a 21 percent decrease in deaths attributable to smoking and 20 percent reduction in years of life lost in people born in 1997 or after, compared to a scenario in which e-cigarettes were not an option for those seeking nicotine.
"Our model is consistent with recent evidence that, while e-cigarette use has markedly increased, cigarette smoking among youth and young adults has fallen dramatically," said David Levy, PhD, a professor of oncology at Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center in Washington and the study's lead author. "Our study indicates that, considering a broad range of reasonable scenarios, e-cigarettes are likely to reduce cigarette smoking and not lead to offsetting increases in harm from the use of e-cigarettes and more deadly cigarettes...vaping is likely to have a net positive public health impact."