Nearly 3 million people in GB have quit smoking with a vape in last 5 years
New figures show that over half of people who stopped smoking in the last five years across GB used a vape to quit. In the North East the figures are even higher – nearly six out of 10 used a vape to quit.
The research from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) and supported by Fresh found that vapes have been the most popular quitting aid among those who have successfully stopped smoking in the last 5 years [1].
Their latest survey found:
- Overall 5.6 million adults currently vape, 53% who have stopped smoking, 39% are still smoking and 8% have never smoked.
- Among all those who stopped smoking in the last five years, just over half report they used a vape to quit equating to 2.7 million people. Of those a third have also stopped vaping and the average duration of their vaping was a year.
- In the North East nearly 6/10 (57%) of people who quit smoking in the last five years (around 123,000 people) – used a vape to do so
There is now well established [2] evidence that vaping is an effective aid to quitting smoking and less harmful than smoking [3] but this new data also shows the scale of quitting linked to smoking in recent years.
Fresh with partners nationally and regionally are calling for a new Tobacco and Vapes Bill to be reintroduced urgently in order to raise the age of sale of toxic tobacco and reduce teenage vaping while ensuring vapes can still be used as an aid for people to quit smoking.
Ailsa Rutter OBE Director of Fresh and Balance, said: “Tobacco smoking is devastating to people’s health – it is a toxic product which kills 2 in 3 long-term smokers.
“It is vital we give smokers today every chance to quit and switch away from the biggest cause of cancer and preventable disease – this is part of creating a smokefree future for the UK while doing what we can to reduce the appeal of vaping to children.”
Respiratory consultant Dr Ruth Sharrock treats patients with lung disease every day and is also clinical lead for tobacco dependency for North East and North Cumbria NHS Integrated Care System. She says in her line of work treating people with years of smoking-related harm, vaping has become an increasingly important tool to support smokers to quit.
“In the North East we have been able to use vapes as an invaluable part of the strategy to help smokers to quit smoking. They are the most common quitting aid chosen by both hospital patients and staff members who are dependent on tobacco. These are very often people who have often given up hope of ever stopping.
“Switching to a vastly safer form of nicotine, without the thousands of chemicals in burned tobacco, feels like a really positive step for them. One patient described their Swap to Stop vape as a being ‘like a free upgrade’ rather than the ‘punishment’ of asking them to try to quit smoking. I hope better awareness of the benefits they can bring to people who currently smoke, enables many more people to try them.”
Kerry Apedaile, is Specialist Tobacco Dependence Service Lead at Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust, and said: “We find that vapes are a really important tool to help us support people who are admitted to our hospitals, where they cannot smoke.
“Many of our patients don’t want to use nicotine replacement therapy like patches, gum, or inhalators, but are much more open to using a vape to temporarily stop smoking during their hospital stay. Vapes help people to feel more in control of their nicotine withdrawal. The fact that a vape occupies your hands also allows people to continue the hand to mouth habitual behaviour they had with smoking, but without most of the toxic chemicals. We do risk assess all patients before offering vapes as a nicotine replacement option.
“Patients with serious mental health conditions are often the forgotten group when it comes to helping people quit smoking. Even though the number of smokers in the general population has fallen significantly, smoking levels among people with serious mental health problems have remained relatively steady.
“Vaping offers a much better chance for our patients to finally quit smoking successfully, so it’s important that vapes are accessible to patients within mental health settings. I’ve seen first-hand the difference it can make, helping people who have smoked for decades to quit.”
John Stephenson, 49, is Stop Smoking Manager for South Tees. A former smoker himself, he quit smoking after a massive heart attack and quit using a vape after several previous unsuccessful quit attempts.
He said: “I had three grandchildren at the time, and I knew I needed to be around for my family. I know now I was in denial about the impact that smoking had on my health.
“I have now been smokefree 18 months and the difference is incredible. I vaped to quit and it means I can just pull the drawer out if I get stressed and have a vape rather than a cigarette. If you just have one cigarette then that means you’re a smoker again – having one is the worst thing you can do because it is never just one.
“My health has improved beyond my dreams, and I’ve saved a fortune. For me having a flavour for vapes helped me move much further away from smoking as well. If you quit you don’t want to be reminded of tobacco.”
Hazel Cheeseman, Deputy Chief Executive of ASH, said: “Millions of people have used vapes to successfully stop smoking in recent years, increasing healthy life expectancy and improving the nation’s productivity. Tougher vape regulations are urgently needed, but it is important they are calibrated to address youth vaping while not deterring use of vapes as quitting aids.
“Smoking is still the country’s biggest preventable killer and vaping is one of many tools needed to help smokers quit if we are to create a smokefree country for current as well as future generations. Government must also communicate more effectively that vaping is less harmful than smoking but not risk free and should only be used as an aid to quitting.”
Prof Sanjay Agrawal, Royal College of Physicians special advisor on tobacco and a consultant in respiratory and critical care medicine at the University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, said:
“In the last few years almost all the patients I see who manage to quit smoking do so through vaping and without it I fear many of them would not have. Vapes are already being used by stop smoking services and NHS support for smokers but they could be used more widely in our efforts to help the millions still smoking quit.”
The analysis of new data has been peer reviewed by experts from King’s College London and University College London. Commenting on the data they added:
Professor Leonie Brose, Professor of Addictions Public Health, from King’s College London:
“We urgently need to tackle the increase in dangerous misperceptions. More than half of people who smoke long-term will die prematurely due to smoking. Alarmingly, half of those who smoke think vaping is just as harmful or more harmful and almost as many are unaware that nicotine-containing medication is less harmful than smoking. These misperceptions are costing lives and we need continued focus on reducing the harms from smoking.”
Professor Lion Shahab, Professor of Health Psychology, from University College London:
“The latest ASH results underline the important role e-cigarettes play in helping smokers stop, being used in half of successful quit attempts. Given increasing long-term use of e-cigarettes among ex-smokers, they also likely help maintain abstinence, while co-use with cigarettes may encourage further quit attempts among smokers. Overall, this use pattern provides a clear indication that e-cigarettes contribute to the eradication of combustible cigarettes in Great Britain, and public health policy should be aligned with this outcome.”
Dr Katherine East, King’s College London:
“The 2024 ASH data show vaping among adults has increased in the past year and the main reasons for vaping are to quit, reduce, or remain abstinent from smoking. The majority of adults who have quit smoking in Great Britain used a vape in their last quit attempt. Quitting smoking is one of the best things a person who smokes can do for their health, and the latest ASH data show the importance that vapes can have on this journey.”
The survey also found a growing group of ex-smokers vaping longer term with half vaping for more than 3 years. Since 2021 there has also been an increase in the numbers of never smokers vaping with an estimated 8% of vapers reporting they have never smoked, around 440k people. While for some of these long-term ex-smokers and never smokers vaping may be helping them to avoid going back or starting to smoke, the charity also says we should not be complacent about this use.