Smoking has fallen in popularity hugely over the years. But it’s still a global issue, with around 1.3 billion tobacco users around the world. Seven million people are killed by tobacco each year, and 1.6 million of those are non-smokers, exposed to second-hand smoke.
Many measures to reduce smoking rates have been introduced, including banning TV advertising, nicotine patches and warnings on packaging. But they haven’t been as successful as hoped.
Vaping, however, has made a real difference. Thousands of people in the UK alone have stopped smoking with the help of vaping. The NHS says that a 2021 review found people who vape to quit smoking, along with expert face-to-face support, can be up to twice as likely to give up smoking as people using older nicotine replacement products, such as gum.
In this blog, we’ll discuss and take a deep dive into the role of vaping as a smoking cessation tool. We’ll also show how it contributes to harm reduction in the broader community.
We’ll look at all the ins and outs of vaping, and back our argument up with facts and statistics. However, this blog is for educational purposes only for you to learn more about vaping; by no means does this constitute medical advice.
The UK’s Harm Reduction Approach to Smoking
Before we explain why vaping helps reduce the harm caused by smoking, here are some reminders of the risks of smoking.
oSmoking causes heart disease and various types of cancer, particularly lung cancer.
oIt increases the risk of hearing loss and eye problems such as cataracts and glaucoma.
oSmoking increases the risk of dementia by damaging blood vessels.
oJoints can become painful due to inflammation.
oDigestive issues, such as heartburn and ulcers.
oDamaged blood vessels and narrowed arteries can lead to raised blood pressure.
With all this in mind, it’s no wonder that smoking is the leading cause of premature and preventable death. 11.9% of adults in the UK are smokers – that’s around 6 million people. This equates to:
o11.6% in England.
o12.6% in Wales.
o13.5% in Scotland.
o13.3% in Northern Ireland.
Why are combustible tobacco products such as cigars, cigarettes and hookahs so dangerous? It’s because the smoke caused by burning tobacco products releases nicotine and lots of chemicals into the lungs and bloodstream.
With all this in mind, it’s totally understandable that the rise of disposable vapes happened. Since 2020, there has been an explosion in the growth of these products in the UK. Convenient and cheap, disposable vapes transformed the landscape of nicotine consumption.
However, disposable vapes were also controversial. Manufacturing flaws, the environmental cost of a product designed to be thrown away after one use and health and safety concerns have resulted in the UK government banning disposable vapes as of 1 June 2025, following similar moves in other countries, including Australia.
This is just one way in which the government aims for the UK to be ‘smoke-free’ by 2030. Other plans include the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, which would introduce legislation to stop children born on or after 1 January 2009 from legally buying cigarettes in England and Wales. By effectively raising the age of smoking by one year every year, it would eventually apply to the whole of England’s population. Additionally, the Scottish Parliament passed a Legislative Consent Motion, meaning the legislation would also be implemented north of the border.
Where does this leave vaping? Well, despite the government’s hardline approach to smoking, it cannot be argued that vaping is a very effective smoking cessation tool. While vaping isn’t free of risks, the NHS calls it ‘one of the most effective tools for quitting smoking’.
The act of vaping can help you to gradually let go of the routines and rituals involved in smoking. For example, the hand-to-mouth action is similar, and so is the ‘throat hit’. It’s estimated that you are roughly twice as likely to quit smoking if you vape than if you use other nicotine replacement products, such as patches or gum. So if complete cessation from smoking isn’t immediately achievable, it’s an effective and healthier alternative.
How Vaping Fits Into Harm Reduction for Adult Smokers
Despite the government’s understandable concerns about smoking, vaping continues to grow in popularity, and when even the NHS recommends it as a harm reduction tool for adult smokers, it should be taken seriously.
How, and why? Well, at its heart, a vape is essentially a device that heats a liquid to turn it into a breathable vapour. It can help to think of it as a miniature fog machine that you can inhale from.
Every vape has a few key components:
oThe battery – The power source that provides the electricity needed.
oThe e-liquid – Also known as vape juice or e-juice. E-liquids are typically made up of propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG), flavourings, and often nicotine. PG and VG are food-grade substances that are good at producing vapour when heated. The flavourings are what give the vape its taste, and the nicotine is (perhaps obviously) the substance that makes vapes an alternative to cigarettes.
oThe atomiser – A small heating element that is usually a small wire wrapped around a wick, known as a coil. The wick soaks up the e-liquid from a pod or tank.
When you puff on a vape, or press the button, the battery powers the atomiser, which quickly heats up. As the wick is soaked in e-liquid, the heat rapidly turns the liquid into mist or vapour, which is what gets inhaled as it travels through the mouthpiece into your lungs.
Importantly, this process involves no burning of tobacco, as with traditional smoking. So, there’s no smoke, or tar, or any of the other harmful chemicals you get with combustible tobacco smoking. Many of the chemicals in tobacco smoke are poisonous. There’s heat involved in vaping, of course, but none of the burning that you get from traditional smoking.
So there we go, it’s plain to see. Adult smokers could substantially benefit if they switch to vaping. And it’s not just the health benefits that should be considered, either – though they are the main thing!
Vaping is also a great financial idea. According to Fresh, switching completely from smoking to vaping can save you £700 to £1,000 a year. A starter kit costs around £10, and after that, you only need e-liquid and replacement parts, such as coils or pods, as and when you need them.
If you decide to switch from smoking to vaping, you can try doing both for a while to help make things easier, but to truly stop smoking, eventually, you need to give up that side of the deal completely.
Don’t forget that other smoking cessation tools can help.
Other smoking cessation tools can help too:
oNicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) – a variety of alternative methods to take nicotine, that avoid the burning of tobacco. These include pouches, patches, gum, lozenges, inhalers, and nasal sprays.
oElectronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS) – Vaping e-cigarettes fall under this category, but there are other types too, such as e-pipes and e-cigars.
Final Thoughts
The NHS agrees with us – ‘evidence shows that vaping is less harmful than smoking’. By switching to vaping, you’re exposing yourself to fewer toxins. And a 2022 government report stated that ‘in the short term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking’. Vaping is an excellent smoking cessation tool, considerably reducing harm to adult smokers.
It’s way healthier for your finances, too. You stand to save hundreds a year if you switch from smoking to vaping. And when the cost of living continues to hold a firm grip on the economy, why wouldn’t you choose to save money too?
You may feel like these are good ideas in principle, but it might not be that easy to make the switch. That’s understandable. But the good news is, as a reliable and reputable vaping company, we’re here to help any smoker take the next step in their quitting journey. We’ll be at your side, all the way. Don’t be afraid to reach out for any help, because our team of experts is always on hand to guide you to a healthier way of life.
We hope this blog has helped you understand more about why vaping is a vital tool in our society to help millions of smokers give up a nasty and fatal habit. We hope that with the Tobacco and Vapes Bill, the industry will benefit, so that reputable retailers like us can continue to help those looking to give up smoking for good.