NEW YORK -- An online Reuters/Ipsos poll of 5,679 Americans suggests electronic-cigarette usage is significantly higher than government estimates. The survey, conducted between May 19 and June 4, 2015, shows nearly 10% of adults (and 15% of adults under 40) now vape. That’s nearly four times the 2.6% figure the U.S. government estimated in 2013.
The difference might be a result of the significant increase in vaping over the past two years: the Reuters poll showed almost 70% of vapers started within the last year.
“The surge in use comes as conventional cigarette smoking has declined in the United States to about 19% of adults,” reported Reuters.
Indeed, health and smoking cessation seemed to be at the center of why survey respondents supported vaping: almost half of the vapers surveyed said they were motivated to switch by friends and family, and 40% listed the ability to smoke indoors and lower cost compared to cigarettes as reasons. Approximately 80% of vapers said e-cigs were “a good way to help people quit smoking,” as opposed to less than 40% of non-vapers polled.
The vapers polled were twice as likely as non-vapers to describe e-cigs as “healthier than the traditional cigarettes,” but also more likely to believe that individuals could become “addicted to e-smoking.”
Despite listing health benefits or savings as a reason to start vaping, approximately 75% of vapers polled still smoke combustible cigarettes.
Although the Reuters data may not support e-cigs as a cessation device, vaping products could threaten sales of more traditional nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) such as nicotine patches and gum. According to the research group Euromonitor, U.S. NRT sales rose 0.2% to $900 million in 2014—but Euromonitor said it expects NRT sales to drop this year due in part to the increased use of e-cigarettes.
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