CDC's newest numbers debunks their own gateway theory

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CDC's latest study released on Thursday this week (November 13th) shows that current e-cigarette use have doubled among middle school students and trippled among high school students from 2011/12 to 2013. During the same period smoking rates have been pretty heavily reduced. Dr. Siegel has taken the time to find the relevant numbers in the study and as usual given us the rest of the story on his blog: During this time period, current e-cigarette use among middle-school students increased from 0.6% to 1.1%. At the same time, current cigarette smoking declined from 4.3% to 2.9%.  Among high school students, current e-cigarette use increased from 1.5% to 4.5%. Concurrently, current cigarette smoking dropped from 15.8% to 12.7%. Now if the gateway theory was in any way true, we would see more and more people starting to smoke as e-cigarette usage is going up. But, as CDC's numbers clearly shows, this is not the case. So, Tom Frieden and the CDC... can you please stop dragging out the gateway theory now? I know that common sense is not something you guys like to use, but now you got your numbers supporting it, so stop it please? I have another theory you could look into instead: The firewall theory.

CDC's latest study released on Thursday this week (November 13th) shows that current e-cigarette use have doubled among middle school students and trippled among high school students from 2011/12 to 2013. During the same period smoking rates have been pretty heavily reduced. Dr. Siegel has taken the time to find the relevant numbers in the study and as usual given us the rest of the story on his blog:

During this time period, current e-cigarette use among middle-school students increased from 0.6% to 1.1%. At the same time, current cigarette smoking declined from 4.3% to 2.9%. 

Among high school students, current e-cigarette use increased from 1.5% to 4.5%. Concurrently, current cigarette smoking dropped from 15.8% to 12.7%.

Now if the gateway theory was in any way true, we would see more and more people starting to smoke as e-cigarette usage is going up. But, as CDC's numbers clearly shows, this is not the case. So, Tom Frieden and the CDC... can you please stop dragging out the gateway theory now? I know that common sense is not something you guys like to use, but now you got your numbers supporting it, so stop it please? I have another theory you could look into instead: The firewall theory.