Giving Compass' Take:

• Jennifer Rainey Marquez at Futurity discusses research on the effects of vaping versus cigarette smoking and finds that an increasing number of US adults believe e-cigarettes are as or more harmful to health than cigarettes, however, that may not be the case. 

• What are the reasons behind this misconception? What will further research on this subject find and how will this impact the health industry?

• Here's an article showing the alarming increase in vaping amongst students. 

The study, which appears in JAMA Network Open, finds the proportion of American adults who perceived e-cigarettes to be more harmful than cigarettes more than tripled from 2012 to 2017. During the same period, the percentage of US adults who perceived e-cigarettes to be equally as harmful as cigarettes also increased significantly.

The study authors analyzed self-reported perceived harm of e-cigarettes relative to cigarettes from 2012 to 2017 using two large national surveys: The Tobacco Products and Risk Perceptions Surveys and the Health Information National Trends Surveys.

  • The researchers found that in 2017, more than 40 percent of American adults who participated in Tobacco Products and Risk Perceptions Surveys believed that e-cigarettes were as or more harmful than cigarettes.
  • In the 2017 Health Information National Trends Surveys, more than 60 percent of respondents believed that e-cigarettes were as or more harmful than cigarettes. (The reported number was lower in the Tobacco Products and Risk Perceptions Surveys because the respondents were allowed to report they were not sure or did not know the risks of e-cigarettes, which was not a response option offered in the Health Information National Trends Surveys.)

Read the full article about the debate over electronic cigarettes by Jennifer Rainey Marquez at Futurity.