THE key issue is not how many children try vaping, but how many vape regularly, and how many having tried vaping, go on to smoke (Young ‘are more likely to try e-cigs’).
Recent research produced by ASH found that regular use of vape products amongst children and young people is rare and is confined almost entirely to those who currently or have previously smoked. Of those young people that do vape, the majority use nicotine free products.
Research undertaken by Queen Mary University in London found no evidence that a child trying vaping for the first time goes on to become a regular vaper. 
Welsh Assembly Government funded research from Cardiff University concluded: ‘Vape products are popular with teens, including those who have never smoked, but few of those who try them become regular users, with most of those who do so also being smokers.”  
There is no evidence of vaping acting as a gateway to smoking. If there were smoking rates would be rising as vaping has become more popular, instead smoking rates are at their lowest levels, including amongst children. In Wales, specifically, according to the Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children report, smoking rates are at an all-time low among 15 and 16 year olds with only 8 per cent of boys and 9 per cent of girls smoking regularly. 
 
Richard Hyslop
Chief Executive
Independent British Vape Trade Association
Victoria Street
London