Poll: Over 40 Percent of Smokers Think Vaping Is More Harmful Than Smoking

Doctors and anti-smoking campaigners say more needs to be done to help smokers understand vaping is less risky than cigrarettes

A man exhaling whilst using a vaping product on Feb. 21, 2020. A recent poll reveals that more than 4 in 10 smokers in Britain believe vaping is as dangerous or more dangerous than cigarettes,. (PA Media)

More than four in ten smokers believe vaping is as dangerous or more dangerous than cigarettes, a new poll has suggested.

Respiratory doctors and anti-smoking campaigners said more needs to be done to help smokers understand that vaping is less risky.

Public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (Ash) estimates that 9.1 percent, or 4.7 million adults, in Britain vape.

Of those, 2.7 million are ex-smokers, 1.7 million are current smokers and 320,000 have never smoked.

In a survey of 12,271 adults carried out for Ash by YouGov, released on Thursday, 43 percent thought vaping was as dangerous or more dangerous than smoking cigarettes.

Among smokers who had never vaped, 43 percent said they believed it is a more harmful habit, up from 27 percent in 2019.

Of smokers who had used e-cigarettes in the past but stopped, 44 percent believed it is more dangerous than smoking, up from 25 percent.

Ash deputy chief executive Hazel Cheeseman said the government “must act quickly” to improve public understanding that vaping poses a fraction of the risk of smoking.

She said, “The government has backed a vaping strategy as its path to reduce rates of smoking, but this approach will be undermined if smokers don’t try vapes due to safety fears, or stop vaping too soon and revert to smoking.”

Vaping-Related Disorders

Dr. Sarah Jackson, principal research fellow in the University College London Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, described the survey’s findings as “concerning, but not surprising” and said “there is an ongoing disconnect” on how evidence on the relative harms of vaping compared with smoking are communicated to the public.

Professor Ann McNeill, of King’s College London, said anxiety over youth vaping is obscuring the fact that switching from smoking to vaping “will be much better for an individual’s health.”

“It is wrong to say we have no idea what the future risks from vaping will be,” Ms. McNeill said.

“On the contrary, levels of exposure to cancer-causing and other toxicants are drastically lower in people who vape compared with those who smoke, which indicates that any risks to health are likely to be a fraction of those posed by smoking.”

She added that more regulation is needed over children and vaping “but so too is work to ensure many more adults stop smoking.”

There have been several calls in recent months to tighten regulations around how e-cigarettes are packaged and marketed to deter children and young people from using them.

In July, MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee said the government should consider plain packaging for vapes in line with other tobacco products to “tackle an alarming trend” in the number of children taking up the habit.

In June, NHS figures revealed that 40 children and young people were admitted to hospital in England last year for “vaping-related disorders,” up from 11 two years earlier.

The Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (RCPCH) also warned that e-cigarettes “are not a risk-free product and can be just as addictive, if not more so, than traditional cigarettes”.

Undated image of a person holding cigarettes in one hand and a vape in the other. (Andrey_Popov/Shutterstock)

Swap to Stop

In April, the government a new vape scheme aimed at a million smokers in England.

The “swap to stop” initiative will see smokers in England offered free vapes to stub out cigarettes.

Vape starter kits will be offered to almost one in five of all smokers under a push to make the nation “smoke free.”

Pregnant women will also be offered cash on top of the plans, as a consultation on introducing mandatory advice on quitting smoking inside cigarette packs is to be launched.

However, concerns were raised that the government scheme could be short-lived if World Health Organization (WHO) proposals to ban vaping products get the go-ahead.

According to the New Nicotine Alliance (NNA) group, the WHO is set to discuss plans to place restrictions on vapes at the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control at the 10th Conference of the Parties in November.

The proposals include prohibiting the sale of open vape systems and most e-liquid flavours.

Commenting on the recent poll figures, a Department for Health and Social Care spokesperson said the swap-to-stop initiative is still expected to go ahead.

“We are doing more than ever before to support smokers to quit—helping us achieve our bold ambition to be Smokefree by 2030,” the spokesperson said on Thursday.

“One million smokers will be encouraged to ‘swap to stop’—swapping cigarettes for vapes under a new national scheme launched by this Government—the first of its kind in the world.

“However, while vaping is a preferable alternative to smoking for adults, we are concerned about the rise in youth vaping.

“That is why we launched a call for evidence to identify opportunities to reduce the number of children accessing and using vaping products—and explore where the Government can go further.”

PA Media contributed to this report.