LONDON-- New research is bolstering the idea that electronic-cigarette use helps smokers give up cigarettes. A new report out of England shows that more than half of the country’s 2.9 million e-cigarette users have given up smoking.
In its annual survey, Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), a London-based anti-smoking group that works with staff and researchers at King’s College London, found that 1.5 million vapers are former smokers, a number that exceeds the amount of vapers who continue to smoke, CNBC reported.
“This is encouraging news as we know that vapers who continue to smoke continue to be exposed to cancer-causing substances,” said Ann McNeill, professor of tobacco addiction at King’s College, adding that the most common reasons e-cigarette users switched from tobacco were to help them stop smoking and to save money. “The message for the 1.3 million vapers who still smoke is that they need to go further and switch completely.”
Deborah Arnott, chief executive of public health charity for ASH, said the news is encouraging, but many smokers still overestimate the risks associated with e-cigarettes.
“The rapid growth in e-cigarette use has come to an end while over a third of smokers have still never tried e-cigarettes, saying the main reasons are concerns about the safety and addictiveness of e-cigarettes,” Arnott said. “It’s very important smokers realize that vaping is much, much less harmful than smoking.”
Such claims remain controversial as regulation and testing of vaping tools and ingredients is still in a nascent stage.
In the United States, the current atmosphere in Washington, D.C., suggests progress may speed up soon. President Donald Trump’s nominee to head the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, has a history of supporting the e-cigarette industry and appears to be open to risk-reduction claims.
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