--- description: The harmful, addictive nicotine type found in cigarettes is often in e-cigarettes. title: E-Cigarettes Might Be Just As Addictive As Cigarettes image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte09cad10583529e7/69885c2fcd68481fe30a0f06/e-cigarette-nicotine-vaping-smoking-cigarette.jpg?branch=production&width=1080&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) ## Health Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [E-Cigarettes](/tag/e-cigarettes/) ## E-Cigarettes Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # E-Cigarettes May Be Just As Addictive As Cigarettes  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 23, 2015 3:26 PM CUT  A person smokes an e-cigarette. A person smokes an e-cigarette.Victor de Schwanber—Getty Images  by [Tanya Basu](/author/tanya-basu/)  ## Tanya Basu Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jul 23, 2015 3:26 PM CUT Vapers—or e-cigarette smokers—aren’t any safer from developing addiction, finds a new study released Thursday. The basis of the pro-vaping argument has been that e-cigarettes don’t contain the harmful chemicals in and byproducts of tobacco cigarettes. [There’s nicotine, to be sure, but not all nicotine is the same](http://time.com/3595057/e-cigarettes-tobacco-cravings/ "undefined"). Vaping proponents have said that the type found in cigarettes is a highly addictive form, and the type of nicotine in e-cigarettes is less addicting. “This perception \[of e-cigs being safer\] stems from the fact that e-cigs are electrically powered devices that heat and vaporize a nicotine-containing flavored liquid to produce an inhalable aerosol, without involving combustion and presumably much of the exposure to combustion-related toxicants,” such as carbon monoxide and nitric oxide, the authors wrote. But a new [study](http://pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10.1021/acs.chemrestox.5b00107 "undefined"), published in the American Chemical Society’s _Chemical Research in Toxicology_, indicates that nine out of 17 common, commercially available e-cigarettes contained the most addictive kind of nicotine. Critics have long held that e-cigs contain ingredients that make them [essentially a cigarette in terms of addictive power](http://time.com/3174362/e-cigarettes-health-quitting/ "undefined"). There is also evidence that e-cigs may [not be an effective means to quitting](http://time.com/3845871/best-way-to-quit-smoking/ "undefined") (some research shows that [75% of Americans who vape also smoke](http://time.com/3915957/e-cigarettes-vaping-health-tobacco-addiction/ "undefined")). ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3969511/e-cigarettes-as-addicting-as-cigarettes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3969511/e-cigarettes-as-addicting-as-cigarettes/"},"headline":"E-Cigarettes May Be Just As Addictive As Cigarettes","datePublished":"2015-07-23T15:26:49.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T09:31:31.678Z","description":"The most addictive form of nicotine commonly found in cigarettes is often the same as the one found in cigarettes.","url":"https://time.com/3969511/e-cigarettes-as-addicting-as-cigarettes/","keywords":["E-Cigarettes","Smoking","Addiction","e-cigs","Nicotine","Vaping"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte09cad10583529e7/69885c2fcd68481fe30a0f06/e-cigarette-nicotine-vaping-smoking-cigarette.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tanya Basu","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tanya-basu/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte09cad10583529e7/69885c2fcd68481fe30a0f06/e-cigarette-nicotine-vaping-smoking-cigarette.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"e-cigarette-nicotine-vaping-smoking-cigarette","caption":"e-cigarette-nicotine-vaping-smoking-cigarette","creditText":"Victor de Schwanber—Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/e-cigarettes/","name":"E-Cigarettes"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3969511/e-cigarettes-as-addicting-as-cigarettes/","name":"E-Cigarettes May Be Just As Addictive As Cigarettes"}}]}] ```