While the jury may be out among some portions of the population regarding vaping, a recent study conducted by Dr Emma Beard of University College London showed that vaping has had a significant effect in helping reduce the smoking rates in the UK.
Smoking rates have been steadily dropping over the past few decades. However, this study used data from 1973 through to 2016 to see how and when smokers stopped.
Stop smoking initiatives led to bigger drops in smoking over the years
Various initiatives have been introduced over the years to help smokers quit the habit. The study indicated that the number of people quitting rose in the late Nineties.
Then came vaping, which has often been spoken of as the most powerful way to help smokers quit cigarettes and other tobacco products for good. Some speculated that vaping also encouraged non-smokers to start, thanks to the popularity of e-cigarettes. However, the results highlighted in the study showed this was not the case. That issue, spoken of as ‘contentious’ in the published piece highlighting the study in the BMJ Thorax Journal, has been debunked in many quarters already. This study backed it up, saying that evidence ‘does not support concerns’ of this kind.
The government wants to make the UK entirely smoke free in just over a decade, by 2030. That is a bold target, but it is one that could be met with the help of vaping. As time has gone on, vaping has become more widespread and more popular among smokers. Many have quit when they had never been able to do so before.
The evidence supporting vaping as a powerful anti-smoking tool is piling up. What are your thoughts on this new research? Do you think the UK could be smoke free by 2030?
