While young adults often try e-cigarettes, little is known about its use and the reasons for experimentation, particularly in relation with tobacco-smoking. In 2016, data were collected from 2720 French-speaking students participating in a web-based study on students' health: the internet-based Students Health Research Enterprise (i-Share) project. Univariate analyses and multivariable logistic regressions were performed to study the relationship between e-cigarette use and smoking status. Two out of five students declared having tried e-cigarettes and 3.6% were current users. Former smokers were more likely than current smokers to use e-cigarettes currently. Among those who had never smoked, 13.5% had tried e-cigarettes. Very few (0.3%) were current users, alternating e-liquids with and without nicotine. The three main reasons for trying e-cigarettes were curiosity, offer to try by someone, and attractiveness of e-liquid flavors. Among current smokers, previous attempts to quit smoking and a strong desire to stop tobacco were reported more in e-cigarette current users than in former users. In this large sample of French students, findings were consistent with the possibility that e-cigarettes might be used as smoking cessation or reduction aids by some young adults whereas other young never-smokers could be exposed to nicotine.
Keywords: electronic cigarettes; smoking; young adult.