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The internet has been completely lit up lately with the discussion
about vaping and whether or not it’s actually helping with tobacco control.
Everyone knows that E-cigs are
more-or-less considered a tobacco alternative, because they still deliver
nicotine - but they do so without utilizing any tobacco, open flame, tar, or
smoke.
Instead of burning tobacco leaves to create smoke, E-cigs make use
of an electric atomizer that ‘vapourizes’ a PG or VG base. This ‘E-liquid’ is
made up of a base, some flavouring, and some nicotine - but it’s smoke free and contains far fewer additives
and chemicals. In fact, E-cigs have been said to be up to 95% less harmful
than cigarettes.
But would it be true to say that E-cigs are also contributing to a
decrease in smoking as well? Some people are saying that E-cigs could possibly
be a gateway to smoking and could be making the problem worse - but recent
evidence seems to say otherwise.
In fact, judging by some numbers that were recently published in on dailycaller.com, it looks like E-cigs
may just be more responsible for lowering the number of smokers in the world
today than anyone is giving them credit for.
The article actually referenced a large-scale study that was
recently concluded and published in the journal ‘Addiction’. As it turns out, vaping may have more to do with recent
drops in smoking levels than most people realize.
Here’s what the study aimed for, according to the official verbiage
of the paper.
“To
assess prevalence of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use, reported changes
in smoking status due to e-cigarette use and correlates of e-cigarette use in
the European Union (EU) member states in 2014.”
The survey, which was called the Eurobarometer, was one of the most
detailed studies ever conducted on the subject of electronic cigarettes. Here
are just a few of the more important numbers and statistics that it revealed…
·
48.5 million Europeans have
tried E-cigs
·
7.5 million people currently
use them
· Of those who currently use
E-cigs, 35.1% have quit smoking altogether
· An additional 32.2% of those
who currently use E-cigs have cut down on the number of cigarettes that they
smoke
· Only 1.3% of non-smokers
reported that they currently use nicotine-containing E-cigs
·
Only .09% of non-smokers reported
daily E-cig use
What do all of these numbers mean
when it comes to E-cigs?
Basically, these numbers are telling us two very important things.
First off, they’re telling us that this study certainly worked against the idea that E-cigs are a gateway
device to smoking. In fact, these findings seem to draw a much different
conclusion, which brings us to point number two - which is that it is very
possible that E-cigs are actually responsible for a pretty drastic decrease in the
number of smokers.
Believe it or not, this survey
seems to indicate that E-cigs are helping people to quit smoking - which is
huge news and amazing evidence in support of vaping as a whole.
This study isn’t necessarily going to calm fears about the safety of E-cigs in a
health-related sense - but it will
undoubtedly put to rest some of the dialogue involving E-cigs and the alleged danger
that they could spark a resurgence of tobacco use. This study is most certainly
an obstacle for those who claim that E-cigs could actually draw new non-smokers
into a tobacco habit.
Here’s what was written down at the conclusion of the study…
“E-cigarette use in the
European Union appears to be largely confined to current or former smokers,
while current use and nicotine use by people who have never smoked is rare.
Over 30% of current e-cigarette users polled reported smoking cessation and
reduction.”(source)
To be completely honest, this is fantastic news for the vaping
community. We believe in vaping because we believe it to be a safer,
less-harmful alternative that can actually help to draw people away from cigarette use, and this study
seems to support this belief 100%.
Guest Post Supplied By : http://ecigsuk.org.uk/