A key finding from our study was the association between
alcohol consumption and e-cigarette access. Even
after controlling for smoking behaviours, teenagers who
drink regularly and binge drink were significantly more
likely to have accessed e-cigarettes (Table 1). This association
was particularly strong in those that had never
smoked. Thus, over one in ten never-smokers who
drank regularly and binged had accessed e-cigarettes,
with their odds of e-cigarette access more than four
times those of never-smokers who did not drink.
Among all drinkers, e-cigarette access was associated
with binge drinking, drinking to get drunk, involvement
in violence after drinking and consumption of
spirits; a drink type that has been associated with
alcohol-related harm in previous studies [16]. These
findings suggest that teenagers that access e-cigarettes
are those that are most vulnerable to other forms of
substance use and risk-taking behaviours, and that
e-cigarettes are rapidly being added to at-risk teenagers’
substance using repertoires.