Why E-Cigarette Usage should be Promoted: A Comparison Between Vaping and Smoking

A research carried out at the Royal College of Physicians suggests that the usage of e-cigarettes should be encouraged, because of its health benefits, among the people who smoke regular combustible cigarettes. The report of this first thorough research carried out on the subject of e-cigarette usage consists of more than 200 pages which help clearly understand all the various related effects of the e-cig usage. The report has debunked all the various myths that were connected to the e-cig usage and it clearly indicated that vaping does not act like a “gateway” to smoking of combustible tobacco for someone who’s a non-smoker. It also indicated that most of the e-cig users are people who have switched to vaping from smoking.

The report also claims that:

“Among smokers, e-cigarette use is likely to lead to quit attempts that would not otherwise have happened, and in a proportion of these to successful cessation. In this way, e-cigarettes can act as a gateway from smoking.”

The researchers who compiled this report claim that they:

“conclude that e-cigarettes are likely to be beneficial to UK public health. Smokers can, therefore, be reassured to use them, and the public can be reassured that e-cigarettes are much safer than smoking.”

Chairman of the Tobacco Advisory Group at the Royal College of Physicians, Professor John Britton claims, “The growing use of electronic cigarettes as a substitute for tobacco smoking has been a topic of great controversy, with much speculation over their potential risks and benefits. This report lays to rest almost all of the concerns over these products and concludes that, with sensible regulation, electronic cigarettes have the potential to make a major contribution towards preventing the premature death, disease and social inequalities in health that smoking currently causes in the UK. Smokers should be reassured that these products can help them quit all tobacco use forever.”

President of the Royal College of Physicians, Professor Jane Dacre says:

“This new report builds on existing work and concludes that, for all the potential risks involved, harm reduction has huge potential to prevent death and disability from tobacco use, and to hasten our progress to a tobacco-free society. With careful management and proportionate regulation, harm reduction provides an opportunity to improve the lives of millions of people.”

With a slow but steady increase in e-cig users in the Great Britain, the number has hit 2.1 million users. Ever since they were introduced in the market in 2007, E-cigs are known for their tendency to turn smokers to vaping by effectively handling and lowering their nicotine dependency and giving them a similar feel to their smoking act but with controllable and lower amounts of nicotine intake. While the Critics claim that the usage of e-cigs can be a gateway to smoking combustible tobacco for teenagers because the act introduces them to a beginner stage of a heavy and harmful cigarette smoking.

The trends of cigarettes and related combustible tobacco products usage are slowly and steadily declining. According to a study, only 18.7 % of adults are hooked to smoking and this figure is the lowest recorded one ever. Other factors that contribute to the decline in cigarette smoking are increased public awareness, increasing costs, and the new social approach towards the issue.