A recent study of 72 adult smokers published in Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health has found that, in 90 days of vaping, 37 percent of the group had fully made the switch from cigarettes to vaping. Further to this, even those who are still smoking see a significant decline in their cigarette use with 88.7% smoking daily to just 17.5%. Following the flavour ban in an increasing number of cities in the United States, it’s also interesting and significant to note that most participants in the study preferred non-tobacco flavoured liquids.
In a huge step forwards for vaping, Canada is leading the way in allowing honest advertising for vaping brands and manufacturers. The concept is simple, that vaping can be advertised as long as the relative risks compared to smoking are made clear and that ads make it clear that vaping is a product for adult smokers. The locations adverts can be placed would be limited and restricted around areas with high densities of youth like schools and sporting facilities.
South of the Canadian border, there’s increased concern over the rates of adolescents using e-cigarettes. However, the current statistics indicate the trend of youth vape use isn’t as significant as it’s been made out to be. Following a harsh crackdown on vaping from the FDA, the number of teens using vapes within a 20 to 30 day period only numbers at 0.3%. Dr Konstantinos Farsalinos commented:
“This is exactly the data I mentioned before that we have not seen, but if you think about the numbers that I mentioned – 94.5% of never-smoking kids have not used an e-cigarette in the last 30 days. So, if we increase the numbers [vaping] by 200%…not 75%…we will still have 86% never-smoking kids that have never used an e-cigarette in the last 30 days.”
According to a recent survey, 50% of Americans believe vaping to be as bad for you as combustible cigarettes. This unfortunate misconception stems from the idea that nicotine is the culprit for many diseases related to smoking, rather than the thousands of other ingredients in cigarette smoke and tobacco itself. It’s believed the misconceptions also partly stem from studies stating vaping released aldehydes. The issue with these studies is the way in which they operate vapes creates dry burn conditions. Anyone who vapes knows how unpleasant dry hits are and that they’re not the conditions that anyone would choose to vape with.
Despite similar concerns regarding the safety of e-cigarettes in some smokers here in the UK, the latest statistics from Action On Smoking and Health UK are looking positive. They’ve found there are more 3 million vapers who have used vaping to quit smoking or are in the process of doing so. The statistics indicate the number of vapers has increased massively in the last few years, from 700,000 in 2012 to around 3.2 million in 2018. This change has resulted in a move that tips the number of vapers in the UK outnumbers the people who smoke. The number of ex-smokers who use e-cigs number 1.7 million with current smokers standing at 1.4 million. This is an incredible change in a comparatively small period of time and reinforces the positive impact vaping can have.
Following on from this survey, Public Health England has released its pre-Stoptober prediction for the smoking rates in the UK. Given the current number of smokers and the rate at which people are quitting, they’ve estimated smokers will drop from the current level of 14.9% to around 10% by 2023. With another estimation of around 60% of current smokers wishing to quit, October and its Stoptober campaign is the perfect time to start.