The gateway effect is often cited by opponents of safer nicotine products as a cautionary tale about the risks of nicotine use: that young people who use nicotine are more likely to initiate smoking. However a recent study has found key evidence that indicates this is not the case. Joining us today is Will Godfrey, editor-in-chief at Filter magazine, joins us to discuss this study and its implications for nicotine research.
Transcription:
00:04
JOANNA JUNAK: Hello and welcome! I'm Joanna Junak and this is GFN News on GFN.tv. Today we'll be speaking with Will Godfrey of Filter about a recent study that relates to youth nicotine use. Hi Will! What's the research you wanted to highlight today?
00:38
WILL GODFREY: Hi, Joanna. It's not exclusively about nicotine, but pertains to a raging debate about why youth who try vaping might also be more likely to try cigarettes. Opponents of vaping have long claimed a so-called gateway effect in which use of vapes causes smoking, despite declines in youth smoking having accelerated since vapes became available. Experts have explained in FILTER how evidence instead supports the role of common liability, meaning outside factors that predispose certain youth to nicotine use of whatever kind. Psychosocial factors are important here, but recent research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association compared children's preexisting brain structures with their later substance use, as Kiran Sidhu reported.
01:32
JOANNA JUNAK: And what did it find specifically and why is it important?
01:37
WILL GODFREY: Thousands of children aged 9 to 11 underwent MRI scans to produce images of their neuroanatomical features. Over the next three years, they were regularly asked about whether they used alcohol, nicotine, cannabis or other drugs. Comparing the MRI images with the later reports of drug use, the researchers identified certain brain features associated with earlier initiation, most of which are evident before any substance exposure, they wrote. That's an extremely important finding, Dr. Arielle Selyer told Kiran. She's a researcher who wasn't involved in the JAMA study, but has published work detailing the implausibility of the gateway theory. It has previously been shown that there are structural differences in the brains of people who use substances compared to people who don't, and this is sometimes interpreted as smoking causing those differences, she said. What's new in this study is showing that these differences, at least in part, were already there.
02:44
JOANNA JUNAK: Are there caveats that we should note?
02:47
WILL GODFREY: Yes, it's really important to avoid a deterministic interpretation here. Having a particular brain structure does not mean that you will therefore go on to use drugs earlier. Dr. Alex Miller, the lead author of the JAMA study, stressed this point. Brain differences may have a small but meaningful impact on drug initiation, he told Kieran, but such differences would not themselves be clinically or diagnostically informative for an individual. His findings are only one part of the puzzle, he continued, when other research has shown sociodemographic factors playing a larger role. There's a lot we still don't know, including the extent to which the observed brain differences are genetic or a result of life experiences. Miller and Sellier agreed it's likely a combination of the two, and a follow-up study is looking at this question. Nonetheless, in the THR realm, the research further strengthens the case for common liability when it comes to youth who vape and smoke.
03:54
JOANNA JUNAK: Thank you, Will. That's all for today. Tune in next time here on GFN TV or on our podcast. And for your chance to present your science at this year's Global Forum on Nicotine conference, don't forget to check out GFN Science Lab over on our official website. Thanks for watching or listening. See you next time.