MYTH: E-CIGARETTES ARE BEING USED AS A TROJAN HORSE – SO THE TOBACCO INDUSTRY CAN KEEP PEOPLE SMOKING.
FACT: BIG TOBACCO IS NOT ENCOURAGING PEOPLE TO VAPE SO THEY CAN KEEP THEM SMOKING.
The bad old days of ‘Big Tobacco’ (BT) manipulating the masses to keep them hooked are long gone. It isn’t just regulations keeping BT at bay, the industry has changed completely in the past ten years. Of course, BT want people to stay smoking, but it is completely wrong to say that BT is deliberately using vaping as a way to keep smoker’s smoking.
In their article ‘Clearing up some myths around e-cigarettes’ Public Health England said this;
“There is currently no evidence to suggest that e-cigarettes are encouraging people to continue smoking – the picture in the UK suggests the opposite. The proportion of e-cigarette users who are ex-smokers has been increasing over recent years.
Of the 3.2 million adult e-cigarette users in the UK, more than half have completely stopped smoking. A further 770,000 have given up both smoking and vaping. At the same time, quit success rates have been improving and we’re seeing an accelerated drop in smoking rates, currently at a record low of 14.9% in England.”
It’s hard to find where this myth originated, but it’s still doing the rounds on social media, despite many independent health organisations stating the opposite, and presenting figures to support their assertion.
CONCLUSION
The number of smokers in this country has been continuously dropping, particularly in younger people. Tobacco produced an unprecedented health crisis that continues to cost the UK billions of pounds. The risks are well understood across society, but the comparable risk reduction of vaping compared to smoking is less well understood. Vaping is not risk free, but it is proven to be at least 95% less harmful than smoking3.
Maybe the myth began simply out of the idea that Big Tobacco must be worried about what vaping will do to their market. Who knows? The facts are very clear, the tobacco industry is not using vaping as a trojan horse to keep people smoking.
VAPE IN PEACE
References
- Action on smoking and health (ASH). Use of e-cigarettes among adults in Great Britain, 2018. 2018.
- Office for National Statistics, report: Adult smoking habits in the UK (2016)
- McNeill, A. et al. Evidence review of e- cigarettes and heated tobacco products 2018. A report commissioned by Public Health England (2018).
Joanne Emmerson FCIM
Head of Marketing, Ibiza Vape Club
Joanne is a fellow of the Royal Chartered Institute of Marketing and has 30+ years marketing experience. She has worked all around the world, is published in 7 countries and teaches marketing communication theory at Post Graduate level both in the UK and USA. She has worked alongside many government bodies, health organisations and national charities. ivcservice@ibizavapeclub.com
