Are Electronic Cigarettes a Gateway Device to Smoking?

When modern day electronic cigarettes were first introduced to the world, they went virtually unnoticed. Regarded as more of a novelty item than a device that would one day evolve into a multi-billion-dollar industry, government officials, corporations, and individuals did not pay much attention to them whatsoever. However, from the moment ecigs began gaining momentum and rising in popularity, the threat to the interests of tobacco and pharmaceutical companies came to light, thereby commencing a relentless war on vaping that continues to this day.  In furtherance and support of this self-serving cause, industries negatively affected by the miracle of vaping embarked on an unremitting and ruthless propaganda campaign, spreading false information regarding the effects of electronic cigarettes. Among the many fabrications, falsehoods, and outright lies conveyed by them is the myth that electronic cigarettes constitute a gateway to smoking. This, of course, is utterly fallacious and void of any legitimate factual support.

The reality is that the majority of ecig users are smokers seeking a viable alternative to cigarettes. This fact was solidified in a recent study conducted by the Center for Disease
 Control (CDC), which discovered that the lion’s share of electronic cigarette sales were by those who currently or formerly smoke analog cigarettes. Further strengthening this truth is a separate study performed by the American Heart Association (AHA), which found that only 32.5.7% of vapers consisted of those who have never smoked. However, the more telling finding is the fact that among this group, a mere “0.7% were currently users (past 30 days), which indicated that few never smokers who try e-cigarettes continue their use.”

The majority of “never smokers” who do resume the use of ecigs, consist of hobbyists and “cloud chasers” who generally refrain from ingesting e-juices with any nicotine whatsoever, as they enjoy other aspects of the vaping experience. This subsection of the vaping community relishes the flavor, the art of coil building, and experimenting with advanced tricks, rather than the stimulus offered by nicotine. In fact, since the preponderance of vaping hobbyists use sub-ohm atomizer coils running at ultra-high wattages in order to achieve the largest vapor clouds possible, nicotine results in harsher hits, which is unpleasant for these users. According to a study orchestrated by Durham University’s Professor Fiona Measham, among hobbyist vapers “who prioritize competency in ‘cloud chasing’ skills, nicotine is actively avoided as it could disrupt their vaping performances.”

The small population of “never smoker” vapers who do use e-liquids with trace amounts of nicotine nevertheless seek the flavor delivered by electronic cigarettes, which is entirely contrary to the experience of combustible cigarettes. Any cigarette smoker will openly admit that one of the ghastliest aspects related to smoking is the unequivocally appalling taste cigarettes leave in your mouth during and after smoking. As such, it would be wholly counterintuitive for an individual to sacrifice the pleasurable flavor manufactured by vaping in exchange for the repulsive taste of analog cigarettes.

In fact, Measham’s study found that although the use of electronic cigarettes by young individuals has grown over the past decade, they do not view electronic cigarettes and traditional cigarettes in the same light. Measham, who also sits on the Advisory Council on Misuse of Drugs, claims that although “adults are bogged down by the similarities between smoking and vaping, young people see them as different activities and do not associate vaping with the idea of being a smoker.”

Moreover, a multitude of other studies have clearly indicated the statistical proof that smoking among adults and youth have dramatically declined since the popularization of electronic cigarettes. This actuality is one of the primary driving forces behind the anti-vaping campaign unjustly unleashed on the population, as it harms the profits of tobacco companies and pharmaceutical companies who make billions of dollars from those who fall ill to cigarettes as well as individuals who wish to quit using ineffective methods such as nicotine gum and patches.

The bottom line is that there is absolutely no valid evidence that indicates electronic cigarettes acts as a gateway to smoking. However, there is ample proof that quite the contrary holds true. That is, ecigs have helped countless millions across the globe quit cigarettes, thereby dramatically reducing the number of smokers across all demographics. The misinformation being fed to the public by malicious and self-serving special interests is nothing short of a desperate ploy to halt the loss of profits resulting from the unequivocal effectiveness and wonder of vaping products.