New international research has been released suggesting that using devices such a multiVAPE can double people’s chances of quitting smoking and there is also significant evidence to show that vaping can help smokers cut down drastically on the quantity of cigarettes they use.
The study, carried out in both the UK and New Zealand and compiled by the Cochrane Library who specialise in producing independent high quality evidence for healthcare decision-making, looked at the habits of 662 smokers and how their behaviour was altered when they began to use e-cigarettes, and the results, albeit from a relatively small sample size, run directly against narratives dismissing vaping as having no effect on the levels of smoking in society.
Nine per cent of smokers in the sample were found to have given up smoking completely within one year of switching to vaping devices, a figure more than twice the size of those attempting to kick the habit using nicotine-free placebos.
Of those who did not quit while using e-cigarettes, 36% reported that they had cut their intake in half against 28% of those on placebos, and the research also shows that vaping was as effective in reducing smoking as nicotine patches.
Interestingly, one of the review’s authors, Professor Peter Hajek, expressed concerns that wariness among the authorities was standing in the way of further, much-needed research. Prof. Hajek said that, based on his findings, he would support the use of e-cigarettes as part of wider smoking cessation efforts.
Acknowledging that we don’t yet know much about the risk, or lack of risk, involved in vaping, he also made a key insight when he said of the research into e-cigarettes “we are not comparing them with nothing, or with fresh air; we are comparing them with cigarette smoke which kills – ultimately – one in two users and the difference in health risks would be massive.”
The anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) have welcomed the research, describing it as “timely” and, like ourselves here at multiCIG, look forward to more work taking place in this area.
Other studies are beginning to demonstrate that vaping poses no threat as a gateway to smoking and we have every faith their ability to be a genuine help to thousands of people who are looking for an alternative to tobacco.
Our products are every bit as satisfying as traditional cigarettes, yet there are crucial differences. They simply do not contain the hundreds of toxic chemicals found in tobacco smoke and we have a broad range of fresh and interesting flavours to choose from.
The full review makes an interesting, eye-opening read and you can access it by visiting http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD010216.pub2/abstract.
