For the French, Electronic Cigarettes Pose Minimal Danger, New Survey Shows
According to a recent survey Commissioned by e-cigarette company Fontem Ventures and conducted by the Harris Interactive Institute, most Frenchmen consider electronic cigarettes considerably less dangerous than analogs.
Vaping is not the same as smoking, and the French seem to understand this very well, if the results of this new survey are anything to go by. Between the 16th and 18th of December, 2014, analysts from the Harris Interactive Institute interviewed a sample of 1,005 people representative of the French people aged 18 and over. While 54% of respondents declared themselves particularly disturbed in the proximity of a smoker, only 19% felt the same way when being near a vaper.
In spite of the constant scaremongering carried out by mainstream media, only 24% of respondents said they considered electronic cigarettes to be a real health threat, while 76% felt the same way about tobacco cigarettes. In addition, 40% of participants said they believe vaping poses limited or no risk. Similarly, the vast majority of French adults (84%) is aware of the consequences of passive smoking.Conversely, 6 of 10 consider that the risk is minimal if they are next to an e-cigarette user.
Even though most of the people surveyed clearly had a favorable opinion of electronic cigarettes and their effects on health, they also answered that they would support a ban on e-cigarette use in public places (92% welcomed the measure in places frequented by children, 88% in public transportation and 83% at the workplace). I guess this is what they call a French paradox.
In addition to these findings, the study also revealed that 13% of the French population aged 18 to 60 are currently using electronic cigarettes, which adds up to 6.8 million adults.
Source: La Depeche
