One in Ten Americans Now Uses Electronic Cigarettes, Survey Shows
A recent survey of 5,679 Americans conducted by Reuters/Ipsos revealed that 10% of the adult population is now using electronic cigarettes, a considerable rise from 2013, when the US Government estimated that around 2.6% of Americans were vaping.
The online poll also revealed that 15% of adults under the age of 40 are using e-cigarettes, a figure close to the 19% of Americans who smoke tobacco cigarettes. The number of smokers has been on a steady decline for a few years now, and the trend seems to be continuing – due in no small part to the rise in popularity of e-cigs – as data shows 20.1% of American aged 25 to 44 smoked in 2013. The surge in e-cigarette use combined with the waning number of smokers, has prompted tobacco companies to invest heavily in the electronic cigarette market.
Reuters reports that almost half of polled e-cigarette users said they were motivated to start vaping by family and friends, while 40% said they chose to switch to e-cigs because they are cheaper than smoking and can be used indoors.
I personally have a problem with the way Reuters chose to report the above. What does “motivated by family and friends” mean, really? How were they motivated by them? Did the family and friends quit smoking, did their health improve, did they just say “hey, I think you should try this?”. I had hoped the actual survey might shed some light on this, but I was wrong. To the question “Which of the following, if any, motivated you to try e-smoking?”, the only available answers were: family/friends, ability to smoke inside, cost of traditional cigarettes, advertising, doctor/medical advice, media coverage, none of these. Shouldn’t there have been a health-related answer available, as well?
72 percent of vapers agreed that electronic cigarettes are healthier than traditional cigarettes, compared to just 35 percent of all adults surveyed. The vast majority of e-cig users (81%) also considered them a good way to quit smoking, compared to just 37% of the entire survey pool.
Around 75% of vapers reported also smoking tobacco cigarettes, either every day (53%) or just sometimes (22%). The media is currently using this particular finding to highlight the fact that e-cigarettes are not actually helping people quit, completely ignoring the issue of harm-reduction. If e-cigarettes are helping these people smoke less, that is an important improvement in itself. However, 75% of these dual users responded that they are using electronic cigarettes to quit smoking.
One of the most alarming find of the Reuters/Ipsos survey was that 55% of respondents who have used electronic cigarettes in the past but not currently, reported going back to smoking, with only 24% reporting not using any type of nicotine-containing products.
