Weighing up the benefits & drawbacks of switching to vaping – an honest view
Who remembers the Marlborough Man? It’s strange to think that cigarettes were once seen as such a healthy habit that doctors used to prescribe them for throat conditions. Thanks to the power of marketing they were perceived as the epitome of smart and sexy. The rich and beautiful would be seen to be smoking everywhere they went, the implication being that an artily-placed cigarette added to their sophisticated image.
Today of course we know differently. Smokers are a drain on NHS resources costing us £12.6 billion a year and the UK Government is working hard towards making Britain smoke-free by 2030 – which is just eight years away. But despite prolonged and energetic campaigning by the government and various charities, there are still 78,000 deaths every year in the UK from smoking-related causes.
Vaping is officially the most effective way to quit smoking, but as with any growing industry, it has its share of detractors, scammers, and scary tabloid headlines. So, if you’ve been weighing up if vaping is the way to go for you, here are some honest and objective pros and cons you may want to consider.
Benefits of Vaping Over Cigarettes
- It’s safer – e-cigarettes are significantly less harmful to you than tobacco. According to Public Health England, an independent review found them to be about 95% less harmful than cigarettes.
- It’s more successful at helping smokers quit – e-cigarettes have helped many thousands of people to stop smoking and the evidence in favour of them is increasing. And when support is given to vapers, the potential to stop is even better. There’s even a chance that e-cigarettes will soon be available from the NHS on prescription.
- It gives you better control of nicotine intake – the average cigarette contains around 10mg of nicotine – the addictive part of smoking – and smokers have very little choice. Vapers can choose the amount of nicotine they inhale. They can even go nicotine-free if they want.
- You can choose from scores of vape liquid flavours – there are hundreds to choose from and everyone can pick their favourites. You can stick to one particular flavour “profile” e.g. fruit, candy, cocktails, or you can mix it up with thousands of potential combinations.
- No disgusting lingering smells – unlike cigarettes, cigars and pipes, e-cigs do not produce the unpleasant tobacco smells that cling to your clothes, your furniture, your car or anywhere else you’ve been smoking.
- Vaping is cheaper than cigarettes – working out how much you could potentially save depends on the brand of cigarettes and how many you smoke, but on average you could save several hundred (if not thousands) pounds per year by switching to vaping.
- There are no health-damaging effects of passive smoking – A study measuring nicotine residue comparing the houses of smokers vs vapers found levels from vaping were 169 times lower than from smoking. To our knowledge, there hasn’t been a single death anywhere in the world that can be attributed to “passive vaping”.
Disadvantages of Vaping over Cigarettes
- Lots of choices to make – when you first start out you may need the help of an expert or an experienced vaper to help you choose the best vape kit for you, or speak to our customer services team. You might need to be shown how to use your new equipment. After that, you will have to test out your favourite flavours and nicotine combinations, which is all down to trial and error.
- Social stigma – for decades smokers have been socially shamed for their habit and, to a certain extent, this has been transferred to vapers by people who don’t vape or smoke. This is likely to be less of a problem as more is learned about e-cigarettes.
- Vaping in young people is viewed as a problem – in the UK there are laws and regulations on how vaping is marketed and it’s illegal for under 18s to buy or use vapes, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t happen. Most negative headlines condemning vaping involve the illegal sale of e-cigarettes and e-liquids to minors.
- Price – when you start there are upfront costs involved such as mods, batteries, coils, e-liquids etc, but this will even itself out once you are set up. Just compare it with what smoking cigarettes costs you (see the advantages above).
- Harmful effects of nicotine – many people think it’s the nicotine that is responsible for causing cancer. That’s not true, though it is the addictive part of smoking and can be added to vape juices. The legal limit in e-liquids is 20mg/mls – which should satisfy even the heaviest smoker – and you can always use less than this or even wean yourself off it all together over time.
You will need to add up the pros and cons of switching to e-cigarettes for yourself to decide if the health benefits, improvements in your finances and social acceptability of e-cigarettes float your boat or not. If you’re making the transition from smoking then you can always contact us and we’ll be happy to talk you through the various options.
