Teens just as likely to try vaping as cigarettes

A new research has examined that young people are just as likely to try electronic cigarettes as smoking.

The study conducted at University of Waterloo reveal that approximately 20 per cent of youth between the ages of 15 and 19 experiments with vaping, the same number who try cigarettes.

David Hammond, lead author on the report and a professor in the School of Public Health and Health Systems at Waterloo, said that e-cigarettes have become increasingly popular among Canadians and one in five youth will try vaping before graduating high school.

Professor Hammond, who testified to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Health in November, said that there is no question that e-cigarettes are a harmful consumer product because of the entire chemicals users inhale. However, because they don't produce smoke, they are significantly less harmful than smoking.

Currently, several provinces are developing policies for the sale and marketing of e-cigarettes both with and without nicotine.

In total, more than 2.5 million Canadians have tried e-cigarettes, with smokers and young people making up the largest demographic of ongoing users.

The report is published today in Tobacco Use in Canada: Patterns and Trends.