The study titled, “Youth Source of Acquisition for E-Cigarettes” aimed to examine the ways in which minors obtain e-cigarettes, in order to help inform interventions that prevent teen access to the devices.
The researchers used data from the 2017 North Carolina Youth Tobacco Survey of 640 middle and high school students under the age of 18, who reported vaping in the past 30 days. The study indicated that over half (51.5%) of the surveyed participants, reported acquiring e-cigarettes from a friend.
Meanwhile, 12 graders were more likely to purchase the products from a vape shop or retail outlet. On the other hand, for teens living with someone who vaped, were was a higher likelihood for them to obtain the devices from a family member, than for those who did not.
Teen vapers are mainly driven by curiosity
With regards to teen vaping rates, recent data released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), have indicated that ultimately, curiosity is the main motivator driving minors to try e-cigarettes, not flavours as commonly believed.
Released last week, the CDC data indicate that all the flavour bans being set in place across the US, may do little to decrease teen vaping rates. “Among students who reported ever having tried e-cigarettes, the three most common reasons for use were “I was curious about them” (55.3%), “friend or family member used them” (30.8%), and “they are available in flavors, such as mint, candy, fruit, or chocolate” (22.4%). Among students who never used e-cigarettes, 39.1% were curious about using e-cigarettes and 37.0% were curious about smoking cigarettes,” reads the CDC website.
