Can Vaping Cause You To Fail a Sobriety Test?

September 12, 2022

Five years ago, researchers led by Virginia Commonwealth University forensic science professor Michelle Peace, Ph.D., revealed that e-liquids — the flavored nicotine solution used in e-cigarettes — frequently contain ethanol, or alcohol, as an unlisted ingredient.

That hidden presence of ethanol in e-liquids raised an important question for public safety and law enforcement: Could unknowingly vaping alcohol cause a person who hadn’t been drinking to fail a sobriety test?

o answer that question, Peace and co-principal investigator Alison Breland, Ph.D., an associate research professor in Department of Psychology in the College of Humanities and Sciences and Center for the Study of Tobacco Products at VCU, launched a human clinical study in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Forensic Science and VCU Police Department.

Read more here.