A new survey conducted by the anti-smoking agency ASH – Action on Smoking and Health, reveals the percentages of e-cigarette users in Great Britain (excluding Northern Ireland) as 8.3% of its population consisting of 4.3 million British users of alternative smoking. Of these, 350,000 (8.1% x 8.3%) have never tried smoking, 2.4 million (55.8% x 8.3%) have quit smoking and 1.5 million (34.9% x 8.3%) people smoke at the same time with dual use.
It was also found that the number of users of electronic substitutes has increased fivefold within a decade, that is, from 2012 to 2022. 28% of those who smoke, making up 16% of all Britons (28% x 16%) said they have never tried e-cigarettes and 10% of them (10% x 28% x 16%) said they did not feel safe as a result.
Most use refillable tanks but disposable e-cigarettes recorded a significant increase (from 2.3% to 15%). The group of young people is leading the increase with half of young Britons between the ages of 18 and 24 saying they have tried e-cigarettes.
1/5 of former smokers said that the use of e-cigarettes contributed to helping them quit smoking. The National Health Service cites evidence that e-cigarettes contain harmful ingredients to a much lesser extent than cigarette smoke but no tar and carbon dioxide, implying an infinitesimal percentage of the initial risk but that the long-term effects have not yet been identified.
ASH – Action on Smoking and Health being the largest anti-smoking organization in England that pressured the state to introduce the anti-smoking legislation in 2007 which compiled the demographic poll on the use of its alternatives speaks of a previous revolution of e-cigarettes.
The deputy director of Action on Smoking and Health said that “Now there are five times more users of e-cigarettes than in 2012, with millions having used them as part of a stoppage effort. However, they have not worked for everyone. Just under half of the smokers who have tried them have stopped using them, and 28% have never tried it. The government said a ‘vaping revolution’ will help them fulfil their ambition for a smoke-free country by 2030, but it won’t be enough – we need a comprehensive plan that will help all smokers.”
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