Young adults and e-cigarettes: a qualitative exploration of awareness, experience and attitudes

Findings from qualitative research into young adults’ awareness and experiences of, and attitudes towards, e-cigarettes in Scotland, in 2015-16.


Footnotes

1. Office for National Statistics, Adult smoking habits in Great Britain: 2014.

2. Scottish Health Survey, Volume 1, Main Report. http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/09/6648/318769

3. Scotland's People Annual Report: Results from 2014 Scottish Household Survey. http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/08/3720/9, see Chapter 9 (Health).

4. Scottish Health Survey, Volume 1, Main Report. http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2015/09/6648/318770

5. http://www.scotland.gov.uk/resource/0041/00417331.pdf

6. http://www.isdscotland.org/Health-Topics/Public-Health/Publications/2014-11-25/SALSUS_2013_Smoking_Report.pdf

7. C Johnston (2016) Tobacco use among adolescents in Scotland: Profile and trends. Scottish Government: http://www.gov.scot/Publications/2016/02/3737

8. An international literature review carried out for Public Health England found no evidence that non-smoking children who tried e-cigarettes were more likely to then try tobacco. However, this was because of a lack of available longitudinal data. See Bauld et al (2014), E-cigarette uptake and marketing. Public Health England.

9. http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/parliamentarybusiness/Bills/89934.aspx

10. L Bauld, AM MacKintosh, A Ford & A McNeill (2015) "E-cigarette uptake amongst UK youth: Experimentation, but little or no regular use in nonsmokers." Nicotine and Tobacco Research, 1-2, doi:10j.1093/ntr/ntv132.

11. Young People and E-Cigarettes in Scotland: A Survey of Secondary School Pupils, September 2015. See: http://www.gov.scot/Resource/0048/00486068.pdf

12. At the time of writing this report, two other qualitative research projects were underway in Scotland. The first is jointly funded by the UK Medical Research Council; Chest, Heart and Stroke Scotland; Fresh North-East; and Tobacco Free Futures and carried out by Shona Hilton and colleagues at Glasgow University, with 14-17 year olds. One paper from this research had been published and a second was under review at PLOS ONE: H Weishaar, F Trevisan, S Hilton (2016) "Maybe they should regulate them quite strictly until they know the true dangers": A focus group study exploring UK adolescents' views on e-cigarette regulation. Addiction, doi: 10.1111/add.13377; S Hilton, F Trevisan, H Sweeting, H Weishaar, V Katikireddi: E-cigarettes, a Safer Alternative for Teenagers? A UK Focus Group Study of Teenagers' Views: under review PLOS ONE. The second, funded by Cancer Research UK, is being carried out by Professor Amanda Amos and colleagues at Edinburgh University. This study is with 16- to 25-year olds and will conclude by the end of 2016.

13. One of the older groups also included 18-year-olds. Four of the younger groups comprised those aged just 16-19.

14. There are a wide range of terms used to describe the various smoke tricks that can be performed using a box mod or other vapour-producing device.

15. As discussed in Chapter 2, this device was designed to be safe for use in prisons and was not commercially available.

16. Note again , that these figures are not consistent with current prevalence rates because of the purposive sampling approach used in this research.

17. For example, some participants referred to a meme circulating widely on social media sites that pokes fun at the volume of smoke produced by some devices. Google: 'We get it bro, you vape'

18. A McNeill et al (2015) E-cigarettes: an evidence update. Public Health England. Available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/e-cigarettes-an-evidence-update

19. A recent paper by Glasgow University researchers discusses attitudes to regulation: H Weishaar, F Trevisan, S Hilton (2016) "Maybe they should regulate them quite strictly until they know the true dangers": A focus group study exploring UK adolescents' views on e-cigarette regulation. Addiction, doi: 10.1111/add.13377.

20. Legislation came into effect in England and Wales in October 2015 making it an offence to sell e-cigarettes to people under 18. It is also an offence for an adult to purchase an e-cigarette for use by a person under 18. However, at present, there is no age restriction enforced in Scotland on the sale of e-cigarettes.

21. This individual was likely to have had in mind the restrictions to be introduced in the UK with the EU Tobacco Products Directive. See http://ec.europa.eu/health/tobacco/docs/dir_201440_en.pdf

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