- Email: [email protected]
Electronic cigarette use in the UK
News
A survey commissioned by Action on Smoking and Health has estimated that 2·9 million adults in the UK use electronic cigarettes—a substantial increase over the 700 000 users in 2012. The survey of a representative sample of 12 696 adults was done in Feb–Mar, 2017. The investigators concluded that 1·5 million electronic cigarette users are ex-smokers and 1·3 million are current smokers; the remainder are never-smokers. “Electronic cigarettes have enabled a large group of people to stop smoking and not to go back to the habit”, said Hazel Cheeseman (Action on Smoking and Health, London, UK). Awareness of electronic cigarettes exceeded 90%, both among smokers and the general public. 18% of current smokers also use electronic cigarettes; the most common reason they gave for doing so was to reduce their tobacco consumption. However, 20% of smokers who had tried electronic
cigarettes stopped using them because the devices did not reduce their urge to smoke combustible cigarettes. “One big concern is the large mis understanding about the relative harms of electronic cigarettes compared to tobacco smoking”, said Cheeseman. Only 13% of those surveyed correctly thought that electronic cigarettes were considerably less dangerous than combustible cigarettes, down from 21% in 2013. The proportion of current smokers who thought that electronic cigarettes were either as harmful, or more harmful, than combustible cigarettes was 22% (whereas in 2013 it was 9%). 28% of smokers were unsure of the risks of electronic cigarettes compared with combustible cigarettes. “The fact that so many of the public have inaccurate beliefs about the relative harmfulness of e-cigarettes has been a failure of science communication”, commented
Robert West (University College London, London, UK). He added that organisations such as Public Health England were not responsible for this failure. “It is due to misleading study conclusions, amplified by misleading press releases, further amplified by misleading headlines which have created the strong impression that e-cigarettes are at least as harmful as cigarettes”, he explained. John Britton (University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK) added that misconceptions about electronic cigarettes are likely to deter some smokers from trying the devices. “It therefore remains vitally important that medical and other authorities consistently reinforce the message that electronic cigarettes are substantially less harmful than smoking tobacco”, he said.
B Boissonnet Bsip/Science Photo Library
Electronic cigarette use in the UK
Lancet Oncol 2017 Published Online May 18, 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S1470-2045(17)30365-0 For the survey by Action on Smoking and Health see http://ash.org.uk/download/useof-e-cigarettes-among-adultsin-great-britain-2017/
Talha Khan Burki
www.thelancet.com/oncology Published online May 18, 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30365-0
1
A survey commissioned by Action on Smoking and Health has estimated that 2·9 million adults in the UK use electronic cigarettes—a substantial increase over the 700 000 users in 2012. The survey of a representative sample of 12 696 adults was done in Feb–Mar, 2017. The investigators concluded that 1·5 million electronic cigarette users are ex-smokers and 1·3 million are current smokers; the remainder are never-smokers. “Electronic cigarettes have enabled a large group of people to stop smoking and not to go back to the habit”, said Hazel Cheeseman (Action on Smoking and Health, London, UK). Awareness of electronic cigarettes exceeded 90%, both among smokers and the general public. 18% of current smokers also use electronic cigarettes; the most common reason they gave for doing so was to reduce their tobacco consumption. However, 20% of smokers who had tried electronic
cigarettes stopped using them because the devices did not reduce their urge to smoke combustible cigarettes. “One big concern is the large mis understanding about the relative harms of electronic cigarettes compared to tobacco smoking”, said Cheeseman. Only 13% of those surveyed correctly thought that electronic cigarettes were considerably less dangerous than combustible cigarettes, down from 21% in 2013. The proportion of current smokers who thought that electronic cigarettes were either as harmful, or more harmful, than combustible cigarettes was 22% (whereas in 2013 it was 9%). 28% of smokers were unsure of the risks of electronic cigarettes compared with combustible cigarettes. “The fact that so many of the public have inaccurate beliefs about the relative harmfulness of e-cigarettes has been a failure of science communication”, commented
Robert West (University College London, London, UK). He added that organisations such as Public Health England were not responsible for this failure. “It is due to misleading study conclusions, amplified by misleading press releases, further amplified by misleading headlines which have created the strong impression that e-cigarettes are at least as harmful as cigarettes”, he explained. John Britton (University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK) added that misconceptions about electronic cigarettes are likely to deter some smokers from trying the devices. “It therefore remains vitally important that medical and other authorities consistently reinforce the message that electronic cigarettes are substantially less harmful than smoking tobacco”, he said.
B Boissonnet Bsip/Science Photo Library
Electronic cigarette use in the UK
Lancet Oncol 2017 Published Online May 18, 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/ S1470-2045(17)30365-0 For the survey by Action on Smoking and Health see http://ash.org.uk/download/useof-e-cigarettes-among-adultsin-great-britain-2017/
Talha Khan Burki
www.thelancet.com/oncology Published online May 18, 2017 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S1470-2045(17)30365-0
1