WHY DO PEOPLE STILL ADVOCATE FOR VAPING?
Proponents of vaping argue that, despite these health risks, vaping is still safer than smoking and should be made available to current smokers.
There are two major holes in this argument.
First, when assessing the safety and effectiveness of vaping as a smoking cessation aid, it is important to compare it to current treatments on the market. This is the norm in health research. For instance, when testing a new cancer drug, we compare it to available cancer drugs and not having cancer.
Applying this to vaping, we need to compare vaping to current smoking cessation aids, such as nicotine patches, and not smoking.
In terms of safety, given the many potential health risks associated with vaping, nicotine patches and other smoking cessation drugs on the market are far safer than vaping.
In terms of effectiveness, studies so far show that vaping is either similar or less effective than current smoking cessation aids, as most smokers who switch to vaping do not quit completely – they become dual users of both vaping and tobacco products.
Even Hon Lik, the man credited with inventing vapes to quit smoking in 2003, is reportedly still smoking cigarettes and is now a dual user of vapes and cigarettes.
Second, allowing a legal market for vaping products will inevitably lead to rise in youth vaping as they are unaware of the health risks, and are attracted to the many flavours and designs.
Vaping products are aggressively marketed on social media platforms such as TikTok, YouTube and Instagram. A study by the NGO Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids found that paying young influencers to promote these products is a common marketing tactic.
Of course, the vaping companies continue to claim they do not target youth or non-smokers.
Tobacco companies, similarly, have always publicly claimed that they only target adults. Meanwhile, they were marketing cigarettes with cartoon characters and, in internal communications, described teenagers as their most important target market, terming them “replacement smokers”.
Actions speak louder than words. The many alluring designs and flavours of vaping products, and the social media marketing campaigns used to promote them, make it clear who their target market is.