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High-Nicotine E-Cigarettes May Make Teens Vape More, Study Warns (philly.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Philly.com: Teens who vape e-cigarettes with higher nicotine levels are more likely to start smoking conventional cigarettes soon after, new research shows. E-cigarettes are sold with nicotine levels ranging from zero to more than 25 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter (mg/mL). In this study, a high-nicotine device was defined as having levels at or above 18 mg/mL. Leventhal's team tracked outcomes for 181 grade-10 students from high schools in the Los Angeles area. All of the teens said they had used e-cigarettes within the past month, and they provided data on nicotine levels in the devices they used. Six months later, those who used higher nicotine levels in their e-cigarettes were more likely to report use of both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes within the past month. These teens also reported vaping and/or smoking more intensely. While 43 percent of the students who'd used high-nicotine e-cigarettes said they were "frequent smokers" of traditional cigarettes six months later, that was true for only 10 percent of those who'd vaped using lower-nicotine devices, Leventhal's group found. And teens who vaped using high-nicotine e-cigarettes smoked an average of 14 times as many "regular" cigarettes per day six months later compared to those who'd tried nicotine-free versions of the devices, the findings showed. The study was published in JAMA Pediatrics.
"In this study, a high-nicotine device was defined as having levels at or above 18 mg/mL." I vape in the high 90 watt, low 100 watt range depending on device, but holy shit hitting a liquid with anything higher than 12mg/ml at that power is straight up painful. And while you certainly can find it online, the local shops I go to sell mostly in the 3mg and 6mg range. So yeah, if 18 or 25 isn't doing it for you, you almost have to go to cigarettes because vaping with liquid that strong at even moderate wattage is like having your throat scraped with a thousand tiny ice picks.
Abandon All Hope, Ye Who Enter Here
Nicotine is addictive.
... but not particulary harmful. Nicotine addicts are way better off vaping than smoking.
I mean, sure, just like an alcoholic is better off drinking light beer or spirits so they don't ingest so many empty calories.
That is not a very good analogy. To an alcoholic, it is the alcohol that is harmful. But to a smoker, it is not the nicotine that causes cancer and heart disease. It is the tar and other crap in the smoke. If you vape, you don't get that.
And I think it's pretty clear that e-cigarettes aren't really doing a damn thing to prevent or deter the traditional product.
I don't know what the statistics are, but I have switched from smoking to vaping (hate that term). I feel a lot better and can breathe more easily. I don't know about others, but personally a vaporizer has helped me completely quit smoking.
"What the American public doesn't know is what makes them the American public." -Ray Zalinsky (Tommy Boy)
Nicotine is far more harmful to your health than caffeine. Vaping is better than inhaling whatever the hell is in that smoke. I tried vaping as a way to quit completely. The first few times I got a nicotine high. For those who don't smoke, or those who quit for awhile, you'll get a nicotine high the first few cigarettes that can make you light headed and want more. The highs get less and less the more you smoke. The increased nicotine concentration you get from vaping can make your nicotine addiction worse. Quitting smoking was one of the hardest but best things I ever did.