For much of the past decade, the Canadian Vaping Association (CVA) has advocated for nicotine vaping products as a smoking cessation tool. However, opponents of e-cigarettes have created confusion among smokers and the public by dishonestly claiming that e-cigarettes are ineffective for smoking cessation.

"The claim that e-cigarettes don't help people quit smoking is now clearly false, and whoever makes it will not only discredit themselves but, worse, undermine public confidence in science." Mark Doc, Public Health England Rael said.

E-cigarettes are currently the most widely used smoking intervention, as demonstrated by clinical trials and systematic reviews. The international review, produced by Cochrane, a global network of independent researchers, reviewed 50 of the top studies on the efficacy of e-cigarettes. The review found that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes were superior to nicotine replacement therapy (NRT), nicotine-free e-cigarettes and behavioral interventions in helping people quit smoking.

Another study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that those who used e-cigarettes daily were eight times more likely to quit smoking completely by the end of the study. They were also nearly 10 times more likely to quit smoking every day.

In addition, the seventh independent report by Public Health England (PHE) on vaping in England, conducted by researchers at King's College London, found that the use of vaping products as part of a cessation attempt at local smoking cessation services had the highest quit success rates – Between 59.7% and 74% in 2019 and 2020.

While science continues to prove that e-cigarettes are an effective harm reduction tool, e-cigarette regulation has become increasingly stringent and even prohibitive in some regions.

“Promoting policies that restrict or even ban the sale of vaping products where cigarettes are available is illogical and reckless. There really is no precedent in the public health field to introduce safer drugs or medical devices or procedures, which are then severely restricted or banned, and lethal of drugs/devices/procedures are allowed to continue. This is exactly what is happening with vaping/vaping and all the safer nicotine delivery systems,” said Dr. Mark Tyndall.

"Smoking remains the leading cause of preventable death and disease in Canada. E-cigarettes offer a tool to reduce smoking rates faster than previously thought," said Darryl Tempest, advisor to the CVA Council on Government Relations. With the greatest potential health benefits, smokers need clear messages that vaping is an option to reduce the harm caused by combustible tobacco.”