The Office for National Statistics (ONS) has published research that appears to cast doubt on the claim that e-cigarettes represent a gateway to traditional tobacco products. The ONS data suggests that those who use e-cigarettes, like multiCIG and multiVAPE, are almost entirely current of former smokers looking for an alternative.
Since they first came onto the market back in 2006, e-cigarettes and similar devices have become increasingly popular as many regard them as a viable means of kicking the habit, yet they have faced opposition from those who feel they may lead to a situation whereby smoking is seen as a normal thing in society.
The figures, taken in 2013, indicate that at the time e-cigarettes were being used by 12% of smokers and 5% of ex-smokers but the numbers drop significantly for those who have never smoked - fewer than 1 in 300 in that category, or just a paltry 0.14%, are thought to have been using e-cigarettes.
Although the picture may have changed marginally over the past year, the ONS research seems to suggest that e-cigarettes are overwhelmingly more attractive to the people they were originally designed to help, smokers and ex-smokers, than they are to people who had never succumbed to tobacco at all.
The ONS also released figures recorded between January and March of this year and they tell a similar story. According to this tranche of data, approximately 1 in 10 current smokers make use of e-cigarettes and 1 in 20 ex-smokers, while “almost none of those who had never smoked”.
The ONS is clear that more research is needed but the same research showed something every smoker and ex-smoker knows to be self- evident. The cost of smoking has risen at an enormously faster rate than the Consumer Price Index, confirming that e-cigarettes have the potential to save their users significant sums of money over time in comparison to tobacco.
More than 50% of the e-cigarette users who took part in the survey pointed out that their central motivation was to stop smoking, while 20% said they use them as less think they are less harmful than conventional tobacco products.
Prof Kevin Fenton, National Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health England, welcomed the findings, saying "balanced and effective regulation of e-cigarettes will help manage the risks and maximise the potential for these products to replace smoking - greatly reducing smoking related disease that kills nearly 80,000 people in England every year."
At multiCIG we have enormous belief in both our products and the benefits they bring for thousands of our customers. We continue to evolve our offering and have recently added nine new flavours to our range of tasty e-liquids. We are committed to providing the public with the very best quality vaping products long into the future.
