E-cigarettes help smokers quit but may encourage non-smokers to light real cigarettes: Research

E-cigarettes offer benefits to smokers to quit, but could encourage non-smokers to light traditional cigarettes, new studies suggest. A British study recently suggests vaping could be “95 per cent less harmful” for people, but a conflicting US study states that teens who had tried the electronic substitute are more likely to start smoking.

Public Health England found that switching to vaping could cure one’s cravings for tobacco, vapourising a liquid that could bring the similar sensation but without the effect of nicotine. British researchers also said the electronic replacement would not cause smoke-related diseases in humans as it lacks chemicals.

However, vaping has been controversial as a tool to quit and health experts said it may still be harmful despite the scientific evidence of the benefits it could provide. A study on US high school students published in the Journal American Medical Association, or JAMA, shows the negative effect of e-cigarettes on teens.

Researchers said e-cigarettes are equally or more harmful than smoking and it serve as a "gateway" to tobacco for young people. The researchers found in more than 2,500 students using e-cigarettes, 31 per cent have tried other forms of tobacco, compared to 8 per cent of those who had never used e-cigarettes.

Peter Hajek, a psychology professor at the University of London, opposed the findings. Hajek said that the findings did not show vaping develops smoking, but those who were attracted to e-cigarettes were the same people are were already attracted to smoking.

Public Health England conducted another study, which shows e-cigarettes were 95 percent less harmful than tobacco. Researchers then suggest that the electronic substitute should be promoted as a tool to help smokers quit.

The British study claims 2.6 million adults who are current or ex-smokers in Britain are using e-cigarettes to quit, and only 2 percent of young people are regular users. E-cigarettes are also the most popular method and leading aid for almost all smokers who are trying to quit smoking in both the UK and US.

With the different findings, University of Sydney professor of Public Health Simon Chapman said the conflict between JAMA and Public Health England studies could be because "different things could be happening in different countries."

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