According to a study unveiled Monday by the National Institute of Public Health of Quebec (INSPQ), the proportion of young Quebecers who have tried electronic cigarettes is higher than in the rest of Canada.
IN QUEBEC, A HIGH SCHOOL ON FOUR ALREADY USED AN E-CIGARETTE!
Data collected as part of the 2014-2015 Canadian Student Survey on Tobacco, Alcohol and Drugs shows that just over one in four high school students (27%) in Quebec has ever vaped During his life. We are talking about 110 students here.
In the rest of Canada, the proportion of students who have already used electronic cigarettes is 15%, which is significantly lower, note the researchers from the INSPQ.
However, fewer young people in Quebec who tested electronic cigarettes during the 2014-2015 period than in the previous year (2012-2013), went from 34 to 27%.
Why this decrease? It is mainly due to boys who have tried it much less, and also to a loss of interest among students in the first year of high school (from 22% to 11%).
But since this data may reveal just one evening of vaping - and not repeated use, day after day - researchers also assessed e-cigarette use over the past 30 days.
And they found that 8% of Quebec high school students (about 31 400 students) reported using this electronic cigarette during the 30 days prior to data collection, a proportion similar to that observed in the rest of Canada ( 6%). And this usage has remained stable between 2012-2013 and 2014-2015.
As might be expected, both in Quebec and the rest of Canada, the proportion of electronic cigarette users is higher among student smokers and among those who believe that regular use of this device is not involves no risk or minimal risk to health, it is noted in the research.
The electronic cigarette is a device for administering nicotine in liquid form without exposing the user and surrounding persons to high concentrations of toxic products emanating from the combustion of tobacco. A consensus is emerging among the scientific and public health community that vaping is less harmful to the health of smokers than smoked tobacco products, notes the research organization.
However, there is this warning: young people and non-smokers who use electronic cigarettes would expose themselves to risks to their health which are still poorly understood.
Source : Lapresse.ca / Inspq.qc.ca/
