There are around 2 million ecig users currently in the United Kingdom and this is constantly increasing as more people quit smoking traditional cigarettes for the health benefits that electronic cigarettes provide. The Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) charity found that eCig users have tripled since 2012 from 700k to 2 million in 2014.
The result of this mass increase in eCig adoption is incresed scrutiny on the marketing of such devices by the Advertising Standards Authority who are researching the concerns. On the counter ASH’s survey carried out by YouGov provides strong evidence that this is not the case and that electronic cigarettes are generally only being used by people wanting to quit cigarettes for a healthier method of quenching their nicotine addiction. YouGov carried out a similar survey four years ago that found that only 8.2% of present smokers or ex smokers had tried e-cigs, however this year in 2014 that has risen to 51.7%. In 2010, only 2.7% used electronic cigarettes on a regularly compared to 17.7% this year.
“While it is important to control the advertising of electronic cigarettes to make sure children and non-smokers are not being targeted, there is no evidence from our research that e-cigarettes are acting as a gateway into smoking.” said Deborah Arnott, Ash’s chief executive.
The concern aside from health issues though is that e-cigs could re-normalise smoking and nicotine addictions. However earlier in May 2014 a study from The University College London concluded otherwise. Professor Robert West who headed up the study said “Despite claims that use of electronic cigarettes risks re-normalising smoking, we found no evidence to support this view. On the contrary, electronic cigarettes may be helping to reduce smoking as more people use them as an aid to quitting.”
This recent survey shows that public health opposition that many of their arguments lack merit and evidence.