Electronic cigarettes could offer smokers health benefits
New figures from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) suggest use of electronic cigarettes has grown over the last year with around 2.6 million vapers [1] in Britain. But Fresh has today expressed alarm about a growing belief “ecigs” are as harmful as tobacco smoking.
The numbers using electronic cigarettes has grown from an estimated 2.1 million in 2014 and nearly all of this increase is attributable to an increase in the number of ex-smokers using electronic cigarettes to avoid far more harmful tobacco.
Data from the Smokefree Britain Survey [2] conducted by YouGov and analysed by researchers at King’s College London shows that electronic cigarette use between 2014 and 2015 has:
• Increased among ex-smokers (from 4.5% in 2014 to 6.7% in 2015)
• Remained the same among current smokers (17.6% of smokers in 2014 and 2015).
• Remained extremely rare among never-smokers (0.2% over the last three years)
The most popular reason current vapers gave for using electronic cigarettes was to help them stop smoking completely (48%) and to prevent them from relapsing to smoking (38%).
But over the same period there has been a growing false [3] belief that electronic cigarettes could be as harmful as smoking:
• Among the general population who have heard of electronic cigarettes, between 2014 and 2015 there was a significant increase in the perception that electronic cigarettes are as harmful or more harmful than smoking (from 15% in 2014 to 22% in 2015).
• Among smokers who have never tried electronic cigarettes but are aware of them, this perception of harm has nearly doubled from 12% in 2014 to 22% in 2015.
Different types of products have also changed in popularity over the last year. In 2014 the most popular products were ‘cig-a-like’, which resemble traditional cigarettes but in 2015 refillable ‘tank’ devices, which come in a range of shapes and sizes, have increased in popularity:
• In 2014 41% of current vapers used ‘tank’ models while 55% used ‘cig-a-like’ devices
• In 2015 ‘tank’ models were the most popular product among current vapers with 66% using them while only 32% use ‘cig-a-like’ devices.
Recent research conducted by researchers at King’s [4] has indicated that using ‘tank’ devices was most associated with having quit smoking successfully.
Martyn Willmore, Performance Improvement Delivery Manager for Fresh, said: “The latest estimate is that electronic cigarettes carry 95% less risk than smoking, and it is clear they could offer real health benefits for North East smokers who have struggled to quit and who are considering switching.
“We cannot say that electronic cigarettes are 100% “harmless” but the vast majority of deaths and illness from smoking come from the tar and other poisons in tobacco, not from the nicotine. 1 in 2 tobacco long-term smokers will die from a smoking related illness, whereas there is no evidence that one death has been caused by electronic cigarettes.
“The number of ex-smokers who are using these devices to stay off tobacco is growing and that shows the value they can have. But we are concerned about the false belief from some smokers that electronic cigarettes are as harmful as tobacco, which could result in many lives being lost from people remaining addicted to tobacco.”
Dr Leonie Brose, Lecturer, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London said: “We must clearly communicate the relative safety of electronic cigarettes to smokers. The proven harm of tobacco is currently getting less coverage than the much smaller and far less certain harm from electronic cigarettes. We owe it to smokers to provide them with accurate information.”
A more detailed statement about electronic cigarettes and vapourisers is on the Fresh website
http://www.freshne.com/in-the-news/pr/item/2096-statement-electronic-cigarettes