Time to Switch?

Time to Switch?

Knowledge•Action•Change (2018)

- No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction

Time to Switch?
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The Time to Switch poster went viral round the world within a couple of hours of appearing on billboards in Leicester. The call to action on the poster was that all smokers should consider switching to vaping, and that vapers should consider quitting smoking altogether.

What is remarkable is that in a few years, large numbers of smokers have started to use e-cigarettes, and many of them no longer smoke. There are 2.9 million current e-cigarette users, of whom 1.5 million are ex-smokers. Many more have tried e-cigarettes but did not continue. This is even more remarkable in that it was not a result of any planned public health campaign. Most public health campaigns are top down – governments and health agencies invest money in trying to persuade the population to adopt healthier behaviours (e.g. to have lower calorie intake and exercise more). No public health campaign could have achieved such a rapid success as the adoption of e-cigarettes in terms of people reached (numbers knowing about the issue), numbers attempting to change their behaviour (trying the product), the numbers actively using the product (continuing to use the product), and the numbers who successfully use the product to change their behaviour. This has the making of consumer-led public health success.

Also see p. 54 of the report: No Fire, No Smoke: The Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction 2018 — Global State of Tobacco Harm Reduction (gsthr.org)

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