Public confusion about the risks of vaping is on the increase, according to new data from anti-smoking charity ASH. Fifty-six per cent of adults and 63 per cent of young people now wrongly believe that vaping is as harmful or more harmful than smoking, up from 50 per cent and 58 per cent last year.
The estimated overall proportion of people who vape in the UK has ‘stalled’ at 10 per cent of adults, while 7 per cent of 11-17-year-olds now vape. This illustrated not just a ‘worrying lack of progress’ in reducing use among children but the potential underuse of vapes as a smoking cessation tool ‘amid soaring risk perceptions’, ASH states. Delegates at the recent Global Forum on Nicotine in Warsaw heard how ‘fear-driven’ media narratives were undermining vaping’s potential as a tobacco harm reduction tool.
While 7 per cent of 11-17-year-olds currently vape, 20 per cent have tried it. However, despite ‘compelling evidence’ that vaping can be an effective smoking cessation tool more than a quarter of adult smokers have never tried vaping. Misperceptions about the relative harms of vapes compared to cigarettes were highest among smokers who had never tried it, the charity adds.
ASH research published last year found that of all the people who had successfully quit smoking in the last five years, around 2.7m of them had used vapes to do so.

A strong government communication strategy to reinforce the greater harms of cigarettes over vaping is urgently needed, says ASH, along with more support for initiatives like ‘swap to stop’ to maximise the potential of vapes to help people quit smoking. It is also calling for immediate scheduling for the committee stage for the tobacco and vapes bill to ‘unlock regulatory powers to reduce youth vaping’, such as banning brightly coloured packing and flavour descriptors.
‘We are stuck in a dangerous limbo,’ said ASH chief executive Hazel Cheeseman. ‘Misconceptions about the relative harms of vaping are acting as a barrier to switching among people who smoke, meanwhile children remain exposed to products designed to appeal to them. It’s the worst of both worlds. Inaction by the last government, and now delays by this one, mean we’ve waited too long to act; we must urgently pass regulations to reclaim vaping as a quit aid, reduce youth access, and get the UK back on track to end smoking.’
Use of vapes (e-cigarettes) among adults in Great Britain available here