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American Council on Science and Health: More data from the UK show e-cigarettes promote smoking cessation

American Council on Science and Health: More data from the UK show e-cigarettes promote smoking cessation

2022-09-08

On September 8th, Cameron, director of biological sciences of the American Council on Science and Health, recently released his views on the report on the use of e-cigarettes by young people in the UK. The following is the full text.


A recent survey of schools in England provides more evidence that e-cigarettes are an effective smoking cessation tool.


The UK National Health Service has just released the results of a survey of young people in the UK on smoking, drinking and vaping.


The media amplified the report's findings that teen vaping increased slightly between 2018 and 2021, from 6 percent to 9 percent. Headlines and comments are everything public health officials and journalists expect.


The BBC reports: Doctors say e-cigarette companies are targeting children with bright packaging, exotic flavours and enticing names.


An official from the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health told the news outlet he was deeply disturbed by the rise in teenage vaping.


I'm also bothered by underage nicotine use.


But a closer look reveals some very good news: teenage smoking in England continues to decline, and vaping has been a big part of this public health victory. This is a result to celebrate wherever you are, as it adds to the existing evidence supporting e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool.


E-cigarettes promote smoking cessation


The survey is conducted every two years with teens between the ages of 11 and 15. This special report includes responses from 9,289 participants across 119 schools. Two findings deserve particular attention.


First, most teens who use e-cigarettes are or have been smokers.


The report states: 56% of quitters are current e-cigarette users. In addition, frequent use of e-cigarettes by regular smokers more than doubled; from 29% in 2018 to 61% in 2021.


This means that e-cigarettes, widely considered to be less harmful than smoking, have helped many young people replace some or all of their cigarette consumption.


In other words, the rise in e-cigarettes largely reflects the decline in smoking. No one wants teens to use nicotine-containing products. But if they're going to break public health rules, as teenagers are used to doing, vaping is a less harmful way to fight back.


Keep in mind that only 3% of the students in the survey were classified as current smokers, which means that both vaping and smoking rates in England are quite low.


Non-smokers do not vape


Next and equally important, few non-smoking teens are interested in vaping.


The survey found that only 1% of students who had never smoked used e-cigarettes regularly. Additionally, the majority of regular smokers (92%) reported ever using e-cigarettes. In contrast, only 13 percent of students had never smoked.


These statistics should be viewed from another number: 88% of respondents are aware of e-cigarettes. Most teens know what e-cigarettes are, but don't try them.


Studies conducted in the United States produced similar results. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported in October that 3 percent of U.S. high school students smoked nicotine daily, and most of them smoked before trying e-cigarettes. As the NHS authors state, smoking history (or lack thereof) can often predict an individual's interest in e-cigarettes:


Students who have ever smoked are more likely to have used e-cigarettes than students who have never smoked.


While the report did find that current e-cigarette use did increase, lifetime e-cigarette use did not increase during the survey period. This number actually dropped slightly:


No increase in current usage was seen over lifetime usage. Twenty-two percent of students reported having used e-cigarettes, compared to 25 percent in 2018 (not much change).


We should keep in mind that these results are based on adolescent self-reported answers, so the data should be interpreted with caution. That said, if the numbers are at all accurate, they paint an encouraging picture. Teen smoking rates in the UK are falling, just like in the US.


In a world full of bad news, let's celebrate the arrival of small victories.


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