It has been reported in a new study that teenagers are increasingly turning to e-cigarettes in order to smoke marijuana. The tobacco industry markets e-cigarettes as a safer option to conventional cigarettes. On Monday, the study was published in the journal Pediatrics.

It has been found in a survey, carried out by Yale University researchers, that almost one in five Connecticut high school students using e-cigarettes for vaporizing nicotine, and also uses the device for vaporizing cannabis. E- cigarettes that are powered by batteries activate a heating element when one inhales and that leads to vaporization of liquid contained in tubes in the device.

They were created to hold liquid nicotine, but some teens are replacing hash oil or wax infused with THC or tetrahydrocannabinol, which is an active ingredient in pot.

It has been found that young males more often use e-cigarettes to vaporize cannabis. According to researcher Meghan E. Morean, an assistant professor of psychology at Oberlin College who carried out the study while working at a lab at Yale, use of e-cigarettes to vaporize pot can have some benefits over conventional cigarettes.

According to Morean, it is a comparatively new way of using marijuana, and children are using it at higher rate.

The researchers expressed their concern in relation to the health risks linked to the 'increased potency of hash oil and THC-infused waxes compared to combustible cannabis'. As per the researchers, "These findings raise concern about the lack of e-cigarette regulations".