E-cigarettes make quitting harder for smokers

A new study has examined that people who smoke e-cigarettes are less likely to quit.

The study conducted at University of California, San Diego School of Medicine researchers found that smokers who used e-cigarettes were 49 percent less likely to decrease cigarette use and 59 percent less likely to quit smoking compared to smokers who never used e-cigarettes.

Wael Al-Delaimy, MD, PhD, professor and chief of the Division of Global Public Health in the Department of Family Medicine and Public Health, asserted that based on the idea that smokers use e-cigarettes to quit smoking, they hypothesized that smokers who used these products would be more successful in quitting but the research revealed the contrary.

The findings show that daily smokers and women were more likely to have tried e-cigarettes. Al-Delaimy believes the study will inform the United States Food and Drug Administration and other regulators on the profile of e-cigarette usage among smokers as they create guidelines for e-cigarettes amid continued discussion about product safety and its attraction to people who have never used traditional cigarettes.

California Department of Public Health (CDPH) director and state health officer, Ron Chapman, MD, MPH, asserted that there was a lot of misinformation about e-cigarettes and that was why, as the state's health officer, he was advising Californians to avoid the use of e-cigarettes and keep them away from children of all ages.

The study is published in the journal American Journal of Public Health.