研究表明 電子煙的出現反而使得菸民增多

E-cigarettes, widely promoted as an alternative to smoking, are actually attracting young people who might not otherwise have smoked tobacco products, a new U.S. study suggested.

美國一項新的調查研究顯示，電子煙，作爲戒菸者被廣泛推崇使用的吸菸替代品，實際上卻大大吸引了那些不抽菸的青少年的注意。

E-cigarettes are thought by some to be responsible for a decline in American youth cigarette smoking, but researchers from the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) indicated the reality is the opposite.

在美國，大家認爲是電子煙的使用降低了青少年的吸菸率，但美國舊金山加利福尼亞大學的研究人員發現，事實恰好相反。

The USCF researchers concluded that many kids who went on to smoke regular cigarettes may not have used nicotine at all if e-cigarettes did not exist.

加利福尼亞大學的研究人員總結稱，電子煙的出現讓那些平時只抽普通香菸的孩子開始接觸尼古丁。

"We didn't find any evidence that e-cigarettes are causing youth smoking to decline," said lead author Lauren Dutra of the UCSF.

加利福尼亞大學該項研究的主要負責人勞倫·杜特拉表示：“目前我們還未找到任何可以證明改抽電子煙能降低青少年吸菸率的證據。”

"Some of the kids using e-cigarettes were also smoking cigarettes, we found that kids who were at low risk of starting nicotine with cigarettes were using e-cigarettes," Dutra said. "Recent declines in youth smoking are likely due to tobacco control efforts, not to e-cigarettes."

杜特拉說道：“一些孩子在使用電子煙的同時也在抽菸，我們發現那些接觸尼古丁香菸可能性較小的孩子也在抽電子煙。近期青少年吸菸率的下降很可能是由於禁菸力度的加強，而非電子煙的功勞。”

For the study, researchers examined data from more than 140,000 middle and high school students who completed a U.S. government tobacco survey between 2004 and 2014.

針對這項研究，研究人員還專門調出了2004年至2014年接受美國政府吸菸調查的約140,000名初、高中生的數據。

They found that cigarette smoking among U.S. adolescents declined during that decade, but did not decline faster after the advent of e-cigarettes in the U.S. between 2007 and 2009.

他們發現，在這十年內，吸菸的青少年的數量在下降，但在2007年至2009年期間，由於電子煙的出現，下降的速度開始變慢。

In fact, combined e-cigarette and cigarette use among adolescents in 2014 was higher than total cigarette use in 2009, according to the study.

事實上，據研究發現，2014年同時在抽菸和抽電子煙的青少年數量要比2009年顯示的吸菸數據更高。

E-cigarettes are battery-powered devices that look like cigarettes and deliver an aerosol of nicotine and other chemicals.

電子煙是帶電池的電子香菸，看起來就像是真的香菸一樣，通過霧化等手段，將尼古丁或者其他化學物質等變成蒸汽。