Millions of them ex-smokers have turned to vaping to try to prevent a relapse, which is good news for some but potentially bad news for others, scientists said.
A study led by UCL researchers found that around one in five people have quit smoking currently in England for over a year fumeswhich corresponds to 2.2 million people. The study, published in the journal BMC medicine and funded by Cancer Research UK, found that this increased prevalence was largely driven by greater use of e-cigarettes when attempting to do so quit smoking.
However, the researchers also noted an increase in vaping use among people who had already quit smoking. An estimated one in 10 ex-smokers who vape had quit smoking before 2011, when e-cigarettes began to become popular. Some of these smokers had quit for many years before they started vaping.
“On the one hand, the results indicate that people who use e-cigarettes to quit smoking often use them for more than a year to help them stay smoke-free,” said Dr. Jasmine Khouja, senior research associate in the field of tobacco and alcohol research. group at the University of Bristol.
“On the other hand, there is a small portion of people who quit smoking 14 or more years ago and probably haven’t used e-cigarettes to help them quit smoking, who have recently started vaping. These people might be tempted to use nicotine again through new products such as disposable fumes.
“However, following a pandemic and financial crisis in Britain, some of these people may have felt the urge to take up smoking again and started using vapes instead. There are many possible reasons for the increase, and further research is needed to investigate why these individuals may turn to vaping after being smoke-free for so long.”
The study looked at survey data collected between October 2013 and May 2024 among 54,251 adults in England who reported that they had quit smoking or had tried to quit smoking. The authors say the overall increase in vaping among ex-smokers is in line with what they would expect given the increasing use of e-cigarettes in quit attempts.
Although previous studies have shown that a substantial proportion of people who quit smoking using an e-cigarette continue to vape for many months or years after their successful quit attempt, the research team said it was concerning to see an increase in vaping to be seen. among people who had previously abstained from nicotine for years.
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“If people in this group might otherwise have relapsed to smoking, vaping is the much less harmful option, but if a relapse had not occurred they are exposing themselves to more risk than not smoking or vaping,” said lead author Dr Sarah Jackson.
While vaping is not without risk, especially for people who have never smoked, it is a small part of the risk health risks of smoking in the short to medium term. The NHS says e-cigarettes “carry some of the risk of cigarettes” because they do not produce tar or carbon monoxide.
E-cigarettes do not burn tobacco and do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the most harmful elements in tobacco smoke.
What vapes do is deliver nicotine – the addictive substance in tobacco – to the body in a different way and then help people gain more control over their nicotine withdrawal. Nicotine is highly addictive, but is not classified as a carcinogen.
The fact that a vape takes up your hands also allows people to continue the habitual hand-to-mouth behavior they had when smoking, but without most of the toxic chemicals.
The liquid in e-cigarettes is a mixture of the additives vegetable glycerin and propylene glycol, as well as nicotine and flavorings. An e-cigarette heats the liquid to create vapor, which delivers nicotine through the lungs. Ultimately, switching from smoking to vaping reduces exposure to numerous toxins and carcinogens.
The evidence is not yet robust enough to conclude how harmful vaping is in the long term, but the largest review of its kind in 2022 concluded that vaping is significantly less harmful than smoking – that’s why so many doctors recommend it as a quit aid.
This is supported by the latest research showing that e-cigarette use in quit attempts is increasing. In 2013, e-cigarettes were used in 27 percent of quit attempts, while in 2024 they were used in 41 percent of quit attempts.
The increased rates of vaping by ex-smokers and long-term ex-smokers can be partly attributed to disposable nicotine vapors, according to scientists not involved in the study.
In addition, history of smoking can have strong links alcohol consumption or certain social situations in which a residual desire to smoke may be experienced, even by people who have not smoked a cigarette in more than ten years. Public health experts said it may be encouraging that given the powerful behavioral and social cues to smoke, ex-smokers instead turned to nicotine vapors as a lower-harm alternative to tobacco.
The upcoming smoking ban
Under new laws proposed by the government earlier this month, it will be illegal for anyone currently aged 15 or under to ever buy cigarettes in Britain.
The plan is part of a series of measures aimed at tackling the health impacts of smoking, one of the leading causes of avoidable death, disability and ill health in Britain.
Ministers said the Tobacco and Vaping Act will extend the current indoor smoking ban to some outdoor settings and ultimately create a smoke-free generation. Smoking would not be allowed in children’s playgrounds and outside schools and hospitals in England, but there are few details yet on how this would be policed.
Health Minister Wes Streeting said there would be a “real consultation” on the measures after the bill was passed by Parliament. Under the bill, shops will need a license to sell tobacco, vape and nicotine products in England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Scotland already has a registration system for retailers.
Under the proposals, outdoor vaping could also be restricted in smoke-free places. Vaping advertising and sponsorship will be banned, and the government will be able to restrict the flavors, display and packaging of all types of vaping and other nicotine products.
In addition, the government has already said that single-use disposable vapes will be banned in England and Wales from June 2025. Scotland and Northern Ireland are expected to follow suit. From October 1, 2026, a new tax will also be introduced on vapors containing nicotine.
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