​Public Health England Debunks Vaping and Teen Smoking Myth

Vaping is increasing regarded publicly as being the fun, enjoyable and healthier alternative to smoking that it is. There are still some who would share myths about vaping, particularly that vaping encourages teen to start smoking tobacco cigarettes. Thankfully these myths have been thoroughly debunked!

When it comes to tobacco anti-smoking it’s safe to say that Public Health England (PHE) are right up there at the top of the campaign list. It was Public Health England who, after extensive research into smoking and harm reduction, particularly regarding second-hand smoke pioneered the Go Smoke Free legislation. This is the legislation which was saw smoking being banned in public places and which has had a major and positive knock-on effect on the number of smokers.

Now, being anti-smoking you might suppose that Public Health England would be anti-vaping too however that simply isn’t the case. PHE base their opinions on fact as opposed to assumption which is why they have become something of an advocate for vaping, particularly as a means to help people walk away from the undeniably unhealthy and harmful tobacco smoking habit.

As an authority in the vaping/smoking debate it was heart-warming for the vaping community recently to hear that despite there being some who would publicly claim that vaping lures teenagers into tobacco smoking, that PHE debunk this myth completely after a major study showed otherwise.

60,000 eleven to sixteen-year olds took part in the study which offered no evidence that vaping was a gateway to tobacco smoking, none. The study went on to show that of the number surveyed only three percent actively used e cigarettes each week and data showed that of this 3%, overwhelmingly those who were vaping were previously cigarette smoking.

Does this mean that actually, vaping is encouraging teen smokers to move away from tobacco and perhaps quit altogether? That’s a discussion for another day and a study we’d love to read.

Other smaller studies that came out the US were being used to back up the myth that vaping is the gateway into vaping for teens have largely been debunked and this larger UK-based study clearly shows that not only does vaping not lure people into into smoking, that actually teen smoking numbers are falling.

Linda Bauld, a respected professor of health policy at the University of Sterling has gone on to say that their analysis of the data overwhelmingly concluded that e cigarette experimentation in teens that do not or have not smoked, simply didn’t convert into regular vaping use.

So, thank you PHE for backing up what many have known for a long time, (as well as other health professionals advocating for vaping, after seeing the benefits). Vaping is not something evil targeting children, encouraging children to take it up and then pushing them into tobacco smoking, which as we know can have series consequences on health. That myth has well and truly been independently and scientifically disproven.