This study suggests that vaping could help more than 50,000 people quit smoking each year.
A new study shows that a huge number of people have turned to e-cigarettes since 2011 to quit smoking, with compelling evidence that success rates have increased.
Researchers funded by Cancer Research UK also found that as e-cigarette use leveled off in 2015, quitting success rates also increased.
Researchers from University College London estimate that in 2017, 50,700 people in the UK said they had quit smoking after using e-cigarettes.
The study used data from more than 50,000 people between 2006 and 2017 from the Smoking Toolkit Study, a monthly survey series of people over 16 in the UK.
Lead author Professor Emma Beard, senior research associate at UCL, said: “This research, based on population surveys and clinical trials, shows that e-cigarettes can help smokers quit.”
“It seems the UK has found the right balance between regulating and promoting e-cigarettes.”
“Advertising is heavily regulated so we see very few people who have never smoked using e-cigarettes. Yet millions of smokers are using them to quit or reduce the amount they smoke.”
George Butterworth, director of policy at Cancer Research UK, said: “E-cigarettes are still a new product, they are not completely harmless and we do not yet know their long-term effects. So we would not recommend non-smokers use them.”
“The research so far shows that vaping is less harmful than smoking and helps people quit smoking, so it's pretty good that 50,000 people could quit in 2017.”
“To have the best chance of quitting, seek help from a smoking cessation service to help you choose the method that is best for you.”
Vaping remains a controversial topic in the medical community. While PHE claims that e-cigarettes are 95% safer than regular cigarettes, some researchers believe that PHE is deliberately ignoring a growing body of evidence that vaping is harmful.
This latest research has now been published in the journal Addiction.
