Research carried out by the campaign group Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has revealed that almost half a million people in Britain have turned to vaping devices like multiCIG and multiVAPE in the past year. Their figures show that there are now 2.6 million vapers in the UK compared to 2.1 million in 2014 and confirm that ever increasing numbers of people are using e-cigarettes as an alternative to smoking tobacco.
The group’s study also indicated the most popular reason given for using e-cigarettes was to help people kick tobacco to the kerb at 48%. 38% of respondents also said they used the devices to stop them from turning back to traditional cigarettes and cigars.
Despite e-cigarette vapour being known to be free from hundreds of highly toxic chemicals present in tobacco smoke, ASH’s research shows a curious increase, from 15% last year to 22% today, in the number of people mistakenly believing they are as harmful as or even more dangerous than tobacco.
While nobody can explain the source of this misconception, it is important that we are able to state the case for e-cigarettes and the positive lifestyle choice they offer to people who feel trapped by their tobacco habit. Equally, it is essential that we stress the fact that tobacco poses an enormous threat to public health, with an estimated 100,000 tobacco-related deaths per year in the UK alone.
Publishing the research, Deborah Arnott, chief executive of ASH, said “The number of ex-smokers who are staying off tobacco by using electronic cigarettes is growing, showing just what value they can have. But the number of people who wrongly believe that vaping is as harmful as smoking is worrying. The growth of this false perception risks discouraging many smokers from using electronic cigarettes to quit and keep them smoking instead which would be bad for their health and the health of those around them.”
Speaking about the same theme, Dr Leonie Brose, of the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology & Neuroscience at King’s College London, remarked “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.”
We have great confidence both in the comparable benefits of vaping over smoking and the quality of multiCIG products. First and foremost, we believe this is an issue of positive choice, so we strive to deliver that for our customers and we will continue to speak clearly about the assistance our products can provide for thousands of people across the country.
