According to scientists, the number of adults in England who have started vaping without ever having been regular smokers has reached one million. The rise is driven primarily by young adults, with about one out of every seven 18-24-year-olds who never regularly smoked now using e-cigarettes. While some may have benefited from taking up vapes instead of traditional cigarettes, the trend could still be worrying, say experts.
Dr Sarah Jackson at University College London (UCL), the lead researcher of the study, said the public-health impact of the “substantial rise” in vaping among people who have never regularly smoked depended on what they would otherwise be doing. “It is likely that some would have smoked if vaping were not an available option,” she said. “In this case, vaping is clearly less harmful. However, for those who would not have gone on to smoke, vaping regularly over a sustained period poses more risk than not vaping.”
Researchers surveyed about 150,000 adults in England between 2016 and 2024 to arrive at their estimates. Only 0.5% of “never regular smokers” vaped between 2016 and 2020, but by April 2024, this had risen to 3.5%, with more than half aged between 18 and 24. Over the years, these “never regular smokers” who took up vapes tended to be younger and more women. The study also found overall vaping figures among adults were levelling off.
Prof Jamie Brown at UCL, the senior researcher of the study, said that the findings were a reminder that action was required to try to minimise vaping among young people who have never previously smoked. “However, a balancing act is required to avoid deterring smokers from using e-cigarettes to quit.” Current government plans to ban disposable vapes were unlikely to be the solution, Prof Brown suggested, as popular brands had already launched reusable products that looked and costed almost the same
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