ASH Busts Vape Myths

Anti-smoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has released a briefing busting common vape myths that appear in the media following shocking findings in its annual survey of vaping in Great Britain. The survey discovered that an ever growing number of British smokers think ecigs are as or more dangerous than smoking thanks to stories appearing in newspapers and on television.

What do smokers believe?

ASH discovered that only one in ten smokers know that vaping is “much less harmful” than using tobacco products, and a shocking 40% now think ecigs are at least as dangerous or more dangerous than cigarettes.

The charity is concerned that one fifth see vaping as simply swapping one addiction for another, almost the same number think vapes are unsafe, and over one in ten don’t believe vaping works as a quit tool.

Who does ASH blame for this?

The charity says the media is playing a big role in spreading confusion. It says “journalists and others reporting on vaping are encouraged to approach the ASH press office or the Science Media Centre” to obtain factual information or to seek balancing comments.

All too often, ASH believes, the media overstates the evidence or presents opinions as facts. This has led to the growth in using misconceptions about vaping.

Misconception 1: Vaping is more harmful than smoking

“No”, says ASH.

“Over 75,000 people a year die from smoking… over 500,000 admissions to hospital a year are caused by smoking, compared with 420 for ‘vaping-related disorder’. In other words, there are over 1,000 hospital admissions due to smoking for every one linked to vaping.”

Moreover, it points out, ‘vaping-related’ doesn’t even mean caused by vaping as they are more likely caused by non-licensed products or the illegal use of drugs.

ASH highlights that UK vape products only contain “a tiny proportion” of the chemicals found in smoke and chemicals that pose a risk to humans have been banned from e-liquids since 2016.

It added that “the most recent independent review of the evidence commissioned to inform the government’s policies and regulations published in 2022, concluded that vaping poses only a small fraction of the risk of smoking”.

Misconception 2: Vaping is more addictive than smoking

“No”, says ASH.

It says that cigarettes are addictive by design and points out that two thirds of people who try smoking go on to become full-time smokers – taking “on average 30 attempts before they succeed” to quit.

Switching to vaping may maintain an addiction to nicotine, but “[smokers] are reducing their risks of relapsing back to smoking which is far more harmful”.

Despite not having a cap on the strength of nicotine in eliquids in the USA, ASH says studies looking at teen use have shown that “young people who vape but don’t smoke are much less likely to be strongly nicotine dependent than those who smoke” – and UK concentrations are much lower, therefore even less addictive.

Misconception 3: Disposable vapes deliver as much nicotine as 50 cigarettes

“No”, says ASH.

ASH says this claim has been frequently repeated by the Times, the Mail, the Daily Express, and Cosmopolitan as well as others.

“This claim is not true,” states ASH.

ASH says there is up to 300 mg of nicotine in a pack of cigarettes compared to 40 mg in a typical disposable vape. Of this, only half is absorbed by a vaper – and this depends upon them inhaling deeply and puffing frequently.

ASH adds: “The amount of nicotine absorbed by an individual depends on how they vape, or smoke, their puffing patterns and how deeply they inhale. Those trying smoking or vaping for the first time, or who are inexperienced, are likely to absorb less nicotine.”

Misconception 4: Vaping is a proven gateway into smoking

“No”, says ASH.

A team at University College London has been running a project for many years that collects data about smoking and vaping habits. ASH points out that if vaping led to smoking, then we would have seen the data show the number of people quitting tobacco use slowing down, stopping – or reversing and smoking rates increasing.

But it highlights, “between 2010 and 2021 when e-cigarette use grew rapidly from a low base in England, smoking rates among children continued to fall at least as rapidly as previously, which does not support the gateway hypothesis at population level.”

The smoking rate in children was 9% in 2010 and fell to 3% by 2021. Adult smoking rates have fallen from 20% to 12%.

In addition, studies show that children who try vaping and then go on to try smoking are far less likely to go on to be smokers compared to those who didn’t try vaping before trying smoking.

Misconception 5: Nicotine damages brain development in young people

“No”, says ASH.

ASH points out that nicotine in the form of patches, sprays and gum is on the World Health Organization’s list of essential medicines and is approved in the UK for use with “young people from age 12 upwards, pregnant women and people with cardiovascular disease”.

The argument that nicotine damages the brain comes from a handful of studies on rates and ASH says there is “insufficient” evidence to show this happens in human children.

The charity quotes the UK Committee on Toxicity: “the Committee had reservations about trying to quantify the effects of nicotine in humans from the animal studies as the relationship of the dosing to human exposures is not clear.”

ASH continues: “A Scottish study following up a cohort of children born in 1932 who had their IQ tested at age 11, found that at age 70 there was no difference in cognitive function between never and ex-smokers.”

Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Albert Einstein, Stephen Hawking, and Francis Crick would be delighted to know their genius wasn’t impaired by nicotine use!

Misconception 6: The main reason children vape is because they like the flavours

“No”, says ASH.

The charity runs an annual survey analysing teen vaping habits. As an authority on the subject, it says: “The main reason children give for vaping is ‘to give it a try’.” It’s just a normal expression of risk-taking behaviour. The second reason is because of peer pressure.

ASH strongly cautions against calls to ban flavours, saying that studies have shown that where this has been done the sale of vapes has indeed fallen – but smoking rates have risen. Worse, the rise in smoking has occurred predominantly in young people and children.

ASH added: “A decision tool developed by academics at the University of Bristol concluded that, based on the available evidence, a flavour ban would lead to increased smoking.”

Has anyone fact checked ASH’s briefing?

Yes.

Experts at Imperial College London, King’s College London, Queen Mary University of London, University College London, University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, University of Bristol, University of Nottingham School of Medicine, and the University of Oxford have all reviewed its work.

ASH’s contribution to the debate is very welcome as it places an emphasis on evidenced-based decision making – but whether the media will act upon it remains to be seen.