Is Vaping Any Better than Smoking?

Tobacco is the world’s leading cause of preventable death, accounting for around 6 million deaths each year.

For the first time, in the UK, a government public health campaign has backed e-cigs as a way for smokers to quit.

Stoptober is an annual campaign run by Public Health England and provides support options including, Stop Smoking Services, a support app, and now e-cigarettes. E-cigs have even been featured in the UK government’s Stoptober advertising campaign.

Cigarette deaths are caused by the cocktail of over 5,000 chemicals in cigarette smoke, 70 of which may cause cancer.

On the other hand, e-cigarettes don’t contain tobacco, even though unfortunately they are still held to the same standards and categories of tobacco. Instead, they contain a nicotine liquid which is heated into a vapor and inhaled. No combustible material is created by vaping, unlike traditional cigarettes.

Vaping is at least 95% safer than smoking, as it doesn’t cause serious diseases like cancer. E-cigs are proven to satisfy the cravings associated with cigarette addiction, more so than other smoking alternatives.

E-cigarettes have become very popular in markets all around the globe as a safer option to smoking.

In the UK alone there are almost 3 million vapers, more than half of which have ceased smoking analog cigarettes.

A new UK-funded Cancer Research study has shown that success rates for quitting smoking are at the highest level over the past decade thanks to vaping. That’s great news considering smoking is responsible for a fifth of all deaths in the UK.

There are still a lot of questions about e-cigarettes. Are they really safer than smoking tobacco? Is second-hand vapor as harmful as second-hand smoke? Are they a gateway to smoking for children?

Research has proven time and time again that e-cigarettes are far safer than smoking. Public Health England and the Royal College of Physicians have published reports that vaping carries only a fraction of the risk of smoking.

Earlier this year, a Cancer Research UK-funded study was the first to report evidence that long-term vapers had far lower levels of harmful toxins in their bodies than smokers.

The nicotine found in most e-liquid may not cause smoking-related diseases such as cancer and heart disease, but it is still addictive. It’s best for an individual to quit entirely, but the most important thing is to stop smoking tobacco.

It is a common misconception that you can overdose on nicotine by vaping. Should you vape as often as you like to curb your craving for smoking, or wean yourself from nicotine altogether?

At most, if you consume more nicotine than you are used to you will feel slightly nauseous and light-headed, but it will pass quickly. This is much like caffeine use. Nicotine has similar effects and consequences of caffeine, yet you hardly hear any reports about the use of caffeine as a cause for concern.

If you have any issues with feeling nauseous or light-headed simply reduce the level of nicotine in your e-liquid, or vape less often.

Unlike second-hand smoke – which is known to cause cancer – there is absolutely no evidence that second-hand vapor is dangerous to others.

There have been studies which found traces of toxic chemicals in second-hand vapor, but these are extremely low and not likely to be harmful to those around you. This is also dependant on certain e-liquids which may contain Diacetyl, Acetyl Propionyl, or Acetoin. There are many companies out there, such as we here at Soul Vapor, that choose not to use any flavors which contain these harmful chemicals in their e-liquids.

There have been concerns, particularly here in America, that vaping is a gateway for kids to start smoking. But the UK is not seeing any evidence of this.

A large-scale study in the UK showed that the kids who have experimented with vaping rarely become regular users, especially among those who have never smoked. On the contrary, smoking rates have declined amongst young people. There simply is no evidence that vaping leads to smoking.

If you are a smoker, the best thing you can do for your health is to quit altogether. Resources provided by the UK Stoptober can help you quit for good. If you’ve tried other methods and still can’t quit, give vaping a shot. It continues to save millions of lives.