Research & Resources

Youth e-cigarette use affects initiation of other substances

As e-cigarette use becomes more prevalent among adolescents, there is a growing body of evidence linking e-cigarette use to the initiation of other substances. Researchers followed hundreds of adolescents over time to see when and why e-cigarette, alcohol, and marijuana use developed. The investigators identified three groups of youth with distinct courses of e-cigarette use over time: those who had high and increasing use, those who had low but increasing use, and those who never used e-cigarettes. Adolescents in the first two groups of e-cigarette users were more likely to have moderate but increasing frequencies of marijuana or risky alcohol use compared to those who never used e-cigarettes. The paper, “Adolescent e-cigarette use trajectories and subsequent alcohol and marijuana use,” was funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. It was published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
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