Misinformation about vaping is the source of much confusion. What are electronic cigarettes and the differences between paper-wrapped electronic cigarettes?
Is vaping the same as smoking?
Although the Ministry of Health has launched a campaign that puts electronic cigarettes and tobacco in the same bag, the truth is that they have nothing to do with it.
Vaping is not smoking: six differences
The vaping campaign and misinformation sow a lot of confusion, and the best way to understand each other is to know what an e-cigarette really is and what the real differences between vaping and smoking are.
1) A vape is not a cigarette
There are liquids with different flavors, as well as varying levels of nicotine concentration; there are even some that contain absolutely no nicotine, which has helped many people quit smoking.
2) Vapers are tobacco-free
Tobacco is a plant and contains nicotine. Vaping, on the other hand, may or may not contain nicotine, but it never contains tobacco. In fact, it’s most often a way out of tobacco addiction, which kills eight million people worldwide every year.
3) Tobacco smoke is carcinogenic, vapor is not
A vaper is not a smoker, and smoking a cigarette is totally different from vaping. In fact, medical experts have claimed that nicotine is an addictive substance, but it is not the root cause of tobacco-related diseases such as lung or throat cancer.
Tobacco smoke contains over 700 chemicals, including nicotine. About 100 of these chemicals are classified by health authorities as potential causes of illness.
4) Vaping is 95% healthier than smoking
After analyzing a decade of scientific studies on e-cigarettes, the UK Department of Health has determined that vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking.
In other words, the potential damage that electronic cigarettes can cause would be, at most, 5% of that caused by tobacco with its hundreds of carcinogenic substances.
5) E-cigs help quit smoking
Besides stating that they are 95% healthier, previous research has shown that vapers can help smokers quit.
In this respect, in the United Kingdom, the number of smokers (15%) has fallen to the lowest level in the entire European Union (26%). This drop responds to a substitution of tobacco for vaping, a transition that has had the full support of the English health authorities.
6) Vaping is cheaper than smoking
Vaping is not only 95% healthier, according to the aforementioned research, but it also saves money, because although the initial outlay is more expensive (the device costs between 50 euros and 70 euros), refills only cost about 5 −10 euros and they last for weeks.