Study claims vaping not a gateway to smoking cigarettes

By Pol Allingham via SWNS

Vaping is not a gateway to smoking cigarettes but could actually be replacing them, according to a new study.

Queen Mary University, London, said they found “no sign” that alternative nicotine products could lead people to smoke.

In fact, they could actually be killing off the cigarette instead.

Scientists put the trend down to vapes successfully competing against burning tobacco, adding the data is still in its early stages.

They believe their research could “alleviate concerns” about how readily available vapes are.

Australia has banned vapes but researchers at QMU found Australians are taking longer to give up cigarettes than Brits.

Young people and those in lower socioeconomic groups in Australia are moving away from tobacco at a slower rate than the United States, as well as the UK.

Traders in Japan also sold significantly fewer cigarettes when they introduced heated tobacco, another smoking alternative.

Professor Peter Hajek, QMU, said: "The results of this study alleviate the concern that access to e-cigarettes and other low-risk nicotine products promote smoking.

“There is no sign of that, and there are some signs that they in fact compete against cigarettes, but more data over a longer time period are needed to determine the size of this effect."

QMU analyzed the sales trends of cigs and vapes in the United Kingdom and the United States, where vape products are legal. They compared the data with Australia’s, where vapes are banned.

They also studied Swedish trends, where oral nicotine pouches are popular, and Japan and South Korea, where people often pick up heated tobacco products.

Co-author, Professor Lion Shahab, Co-Director of the UCL Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group, said: “This comprehensive analysis provides reassurance that countries which have adopted a more progressive stance towards e-cigarettes have not seen a detrimental impact on smoking rates.

“If anything, the results suggest that - more likely than not - e-cigarettes have displaced harmful cigarettes in those countries so far.

“However, as this is fast-moving field, with new technologies entering the market every year, it remains important to continue monitoring national data."

The team said people often use vapes as well as cigarettes, meaning the data overlaps.

As a result, they need more time and sales data to firm up whether people are ditching cigarettes to exclusively vape.

Discussing the study published in Public Health Research, Professor Brian Ferguson, Director of the Public Health Research Programme (NIHR) said: "The initial findings from this study are valuable but no firm conclusions can be drawn yet.

“More research is needed in this area to understand further the impact that alternative nicotine delivery products, such as e-cigarettes, might have on smoking rates.”