WHEN YOU look beyond the alarmist headline of your article ‘More children have tried e-cigarettes than tobacco, figures show’, you discover that out of 1,057 10 to 11 year olds surveyed for the Childhood Exposure to Tobacco Smoke (CHETS) study, 63 have tried e-cigarettes once. The important issue though is how many young people having tried e-cigarettes once go on to become regular vapers or smokers.

According to research undertaken by ASH, of those who had heard of e-cigarettes and had never smoked a cigarette, 98 per cent reported never having tried electronic cigarettes and two per cent reported having tried them once or twice. There is almost no evidence of regular electronic cigarette use among children who have never smoked or who have only tried smoking once.

Research undertaken by Queen Mary University in London found that a child trying a tobacco cigarette for the first time is 50 per cent likely to become a regular smoker. The same research found no evidence that a child trying an e-cigarette for the first time goes on to become a regular vaper. A recent study by John Moores University found that overall, seven out of eight young people had never accessed e-cigarettes. There is a huge difference between trying something once and using something on a regular basis.

We know from figures produced by ASH that very few young people are using e-cigarettes on a regular basis. According to ASH 2 per cent of 11 year olds across Great Britain reported having tried an e-cigarette once or twice, virtually none of whom then went on to become regular vapers or smokers.

Katie Knight, Campaign Manager, Save E-cigs