Vaping IS better than smoking – and ‘one of the best ways in 50 years of improving the world’s health

Smoking kills 6 million a year and is the leading cause of ill health
Vaping healthier than cigarettes due to not having other chemicals inside
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Marcus Munafo is a professor of psychology at University of Bristol

Tobacco still kills six million people around the world every year.

Despite huge public health efforts to help people quit and prevent young people starting, smoking remains the single greatest cause of ill health and premature death.

And even with restrictions on tobacco advertising and smoking in public places, many young people continue to take up smoking.

The situation is even worse in poorer countries, where support to stop smoking is limited, and tobacco control policies weaker.

So in light of this, how should we view the increasing popularity of electronic cigarettes?

The vastly reduced number of chemicals present in e-cigarette vapour compared to tobacco smoke means we can be confident that vaping will be much less harmful than smoking

The gadgets deliver a nicotine hit by heating a nicotine-containing propylene glycol (e-liquid) to create an aerosol (usually called ‘vapour’), which is inhaled.

Put simply, they deliver nicotine almost as effectively as a conventional cigarette, but without the vast majority of other chemicals present in tobacco smoke (either from the tobacco itself, or as a result of the burning process)