April 21 (Reuters) - A study published this week in the journal Tobacco Control examined teens who smoke cigarettes and concluded that they are more likely to continue smoking if they also vaped, according to reports.

In reaching its conclusions, the study examined two different schools of thought: first, the transfer hypothesis, which argues that e-cigarette use reduces the frequency of cigarette use later on; The second is the catalyst hypothesis, which predicts that e-cigarette use will lead to smoking.

It also cites a study conducted in France that summarises the former theory - that e-cigarette use reduces the frequency of smoking among teenagers.

The UK Vape Association said it should be stressed at this point that while the incidence of youth use of e-cigarettes was relatively low, it was unacceptable for children to have access to e-cigarette products, and UKVIA has been campaigning for years to tighten regulation of the way retailers sell e-cigarettes to youth. Progress is being made, but we believe more can be done. It is also important that we ensure that parents and schools have all the facts to help understand the facts about e-cigarettes to combat the amount of misinformation that exists today.

A study conducted by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in 2022 found that there was a very low incidence of vaping among previously non-smoking teenagers (0.5%) compared to former smokers (7%).

The studies published by Tobacco Control looked only at adolescents who had smoked; Perhaps crucially, though, it's not clear, or rather researchers don't know, whether the e-cigarette or the cigarette came first. Experts writing for the Science Media Center also noted that two key determinants of smoking in young people or adults have been ignored - dependence and mental health. This is important for a number of reasons,

Dr Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, associate professor in evidence-based policy and Practice at Oxford University, said:

"While well conducted, this type of study cannot prove that e-cigarettes cause young people to start smoking or smoke more than they would otherwise smoke without e-cigarettes - a limitation the authors acknowledge."

Professor Peter Hajek, director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, said:

"If e-cigarettes were causing smoking, we would have seen an increase in smoking among young people since e-cigarettes were introduced. In fact, the decline in smoking among young people has accelerated."

As stated above, UKVIA believes that no child should have access to or be using e-cigarettes and that more needs to be done. This also applies to research, because the more we know about vape products, the better.