New study suggests e-cigarettes are a 'gateway drug'

New study suggests e-cigarettes are a &#039;gateway drug&#039;

(Image credit: Christopher Furlong/Getty Images)

last updated 8 January 2015

A new study suggests that because e-cigarettes contain nicotine, they may be a "gateway drug" for users.

The research, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, suggests that e-cigarettes could make users more likely to use other drugs, particularly cocaine. Denise Kandel and Eric Kandel, the researchers behind the study, have looked at nicotine's effects for years, and found that nicotine enhanced cocaine's effects in mice by "activating a reward-related gene and shutting off inhibition," Time reports.