Over half of all smokers in England believe that vejping via e-cigarettes is as dangerous or even more dangerous than smoking cigarettes. This is despite the fact that the authorities continuously inform people to the contrary. This is according to a study by University College London.
"The risks of vejpa are minimal compared to smoking. However, the information reaching smokers is often inaccurate or exaggerates the risks for various reasons. This can have serious consequences, particularly for those smokers who may find e-cigarettes helpful in giving up cigarettes," says Sarah Jackson, who led the study at the Department of Epidemiology and Public Health, University College London.
The study is based on information from the UK Smoking Toolkit Study, where researchers collect annual data on smoking and smoking cessation in the country. Smokers are also asked about their views on e-cigarettes and other smoking cessation tools.
Contrary message from authorities
In 2023, 28,393 smokers participated in the survey, of which 1700 were followed up weekly by the researchers during the year. The results revealed gross misconceptions about the safety of e-cigarettes. A full 57% believed that e-cigarettes are either as harmful or more harmful than cigarettes. According to the UK public health authorities, evidence suggests that, on the contrary, e-cigarette use poses a fraction of the risks compared to smoking.
"There is an urgent need to address misconceptions about vejpning to ensure that people can make informed decisions about the nicotine products they use." Sarah Jackson told the magazine The Independent.
Affects both young and old smokers
One possible explanation for the misconceptions could be a steady stream of articles in the media, mainly linked to youth drug use, but also pure sensationalismsays Sarah Jackson. She now worries that the consequences could be that smokers are less likely to switch to vejpning and so-called dual users (those who both smoke and vejp) continue to smoke for longer.
"For young vejpers who have never smoked regularly before, misconceptions like these may result in them not being so worried about any increased risks associated with a possible switch to cigarette smoking." she says.
Misconceptions about the state of research
E-cigarettes have been on the market for over 20 years. A common perception among both researchers and the public is that the products have not been around long enough to know the long-term effects. But even this suggests a series of misconceptions about the state of research, says Sarah Jackson.
"I think a lot of people are concerned that we didn't know cigarettes were as harmful as they are until long after they were established on the market", Sarah Jackson told the Independent. "People unfortunately think the same might be true of e-cigarettes because it's a relatively new product, but I also think what a lot of people don't understand is how far the science has progressed since then."
Better research than for cigarettes
She compares it to the research on cigarette smoking, and the fact that it took a long time for scientists to see the link between a range of deadly diseases and regular smoking
"If cigarettes were invented today, we would know immediately that they are incredibly harmful - we don't need decades of data to know when something is as harmful as cigarettes. If e-cigarettes were as harmful, we would already know it by now," she told the Indipendent. "Unfortunately, I think this is one of the main reasons why people are suspicious of e-cigarettes. They don't think the evidence is developed enough to know for sure that they are safer."
Health authorities recommend e-cigarettes
Since 2015, UK public health authorities have commissioned a review and synthesis of evidence on the risks of e-cigarettes and vejpning. At the same time, the independent organization Cochrane Reviews, so far commissioned by the British Cancer Society, is compiling data on the effectiveness of e-cigarettes in smoking cessation. The message is that, overall, vejpning ”in measures of magnitudes" less harmful than smoking, and that e-cigarettes are a safe and effective tool for smoking cessation.
