Do safer nicotine products help people quit smoking?
The evidence shows that safer nicotine products have an important role to play in helping people quit smoking and reducing smoking-related death and disease.
Should e-cigarettes / vaping products and other safer nicotine products be regulated?
Safer nicotine products should be regulated, but regulation should reflect their level of risk.
Should e-cigarettes / vaping products and other safer nicotine products be regulated like tobacco products or medicines?
Safer nicotine products should be regulated according to their level of risk, not in the same way as combustible tobacco products.
Why are there so many legal moves to ban vaping flavours?
Flavour bans are becoming more common as countries seek to balance youth protection with tobacco harm reduction.
Is there an epidemic of youth vaping?
No. While youth vaping is a concern and should be closely monitored, the available evidence does not support describing it as an “epidemic”. Most young people do not vape, and regular vaping is less common than experimentation.
Is nicotine bad for you?
Current evidence suggests that nicotine itself poses little risk to health. Most of the serious harms associated with smoking are caused by the toxic chemicals released when tobacco is burned, not by nicotine.
Are e-cigarettes bad for you/is vaping bad for you?
Compared with smoking cigarettes, vaping is substantially less harmful. Unlike cigarettes, e-cigarettes do not burn tobacco and therefore do not expose users to many of the toxic chemicals produced by combustion.
What caused the deaths linked to e-cigarettes / vaping products in the USA?
In 2019, an outbreak of serious lung injuries and deaths in the USA, known as EVALI, was primarily linked to THC-containing vaping products, particularly those obtained from informal sources. Vitamin E acetate, an additive found in some THC vaping products, was strongly linked to the outbreak.
Why is there so much opposition to safer nicotine products, including from the WHO?
Opposition to safer nicotine products reflects concerns about youth uptake, nicotine dependence, long-term health effects and the involvement of the tobacco industry. Organisations including the WHO argue that these risks require strict regulation, while supporters of tobacco harm reduction emphasise the potential of these products to reduce smoking-related harm.
Is vaping a gateway to smoking for young people?
Some studies have found that young people who vape are more likely to later report smoking cigarettes. However, this association does not necessarily show that vaping causes young people to start smoking. Population trends do not show an increase in youth smoking alongside the rise of vaping.