Research suggests that switching to vaping is a more effective method of giving up smoking than other nicotine replacement products
Smokers are increasingly unconvinced of the benefits of switching to e-cigarettes, or ‘vaping’ – using an electronic device to heat a liquid that contains nicotine and inhaling the vapour (as opposed to breathing in the smoke from burning tobacco). Last year, over a third of smokers surveyed in England thought vaping would be more harmful to their health than smoking – up from 12 per cent four years earlier – while another third thought vaping would be just as bad.
This is despite scientific evidence from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) showing the effects of smoking on our health, and a Cochrane review from 2022 that suggests vaping helps more people to quit than other nicotine replacement products. So, the perception of vaping is important because, as scientists established this year, smokers who think vaping is less harmful are more likely to switch.