Vaping not a gateway to smoking, states CCC policy paper

THE Consumer Choice Center (CCC), a consumer advocacy group based in the United States, recently published a policy paper that examined key facts demonstrating that vape is not the gateway to smoking. 

"Vaping is often blamed for encouraging smoking among adults and teens," said Maria Chaplia, a research manager at CCC and author of the CCC paper titled "Vaping And The Gateway Myth". 

"Such unjustified criticism of vaping prevents millions of smokers around the world from switching to a safer alternative. The gateway rhetoric does not do anyone any good, has no merit and should be abandoned," she continued.

NOT THE SAME

According to the research report by the CCC, the objective of vaping is to provide a less dangerous alternative to cigarettes that minimises the risk of health complications.

Public Health England has validated this statement, stating that vaping is 95 per cent less harmful compared to smoking.

Furthermore, vaping has a cancer risk of less than 0.5 per cent when compared to smoking, according to a study published in the British Medical Journal.

LESSER RISKS

The policy paper went on to say that nicotine, which is also found in vape and used in traditional nicotine replacement therapy, does not affect the risk of major illnesses like heart attacks or strokes, as well as one's mortality.

In fact, the paper highlighted how nicotine replacement therapy has been widely used for many years to help people stop smoking and is a safe treatment.

An article by Yorkshire Cancer Research also stated, "Nicotine is not the cause of death from smoking. Nicotine is not a carcinogen; there is no evidence that sustained use of nicotine alone increases the risk of cancer. 

"Of the three main causes of death from smoking (lung cancer, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and cardiovascular disease), none are caused by nicotine. Instead, the harm from smoking comes from the thousands of other chemicals in tobacco smoke."

The British National Health Service has taken a pragmatic stance toward nicotine consumption and vaping, stating, "While nicotine is the addictive substance in cigarettes, it's relatively harmless."

RARE USE OF VAPE AMONG YOUTH

On top of that, the policy paper emphasised that vaping among youth is uncommon and that most vape users are current or former smokers.

According to a study published in the Journal of Drug Policy, at least 70 per cent to 85 per cent of all adolescents only try vaping after smoking. However, regular vaping among adolescents is extremely rare.

Moreover, despite claims of a teen vaping epidemic, teen vaping in the United States (US) fell by more than half between 2019 and 2021, from 27.5 per cent to 11.3 per cent.

Only less than 1 per cent of never-smokers in the United Kingdom have tried vaping, despite the fact that it is recommended to smokers as a less dangerous option.

KEY RECOMMENDATIONS

CCC's Chaplia and World Vaper's Alliance's Michael Landle, as the authors of the policy paper, advocated embracing the notion of harm reduction with vaping devices. 

The authors also recommend that vape devices be approved as tools to help smokers migrate to a safer option to consume nicotine and finally stop if they wish to do so, based on the facts stated in the policy paper.

According to the authors, for smoking cessation to take place, adults should also have access to vaping goods that are affordable and diverse. 

Finally, they also suggested that vaping product advertising be permitted to educate current smokers about the harm-reduction potential of vaping nicotine, minimise illicit commerce and prevent minors from turning to the black market and taking up vaping.