Has vaping caused more problems than it has solved?

Yes, 'Popcorn Lung', that mysteriously has never been diagnosed in smokers even though their diacetyl exposure is about 750 times that of vapers (before diacetyl was banned).

https://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2015/12/new-study-finds-that-average-diacetyl.html

And Lipoid pneumonia - caused by inhaling oil, which vapes do not contain:

https://tobaccoanalysis.blogspot.com/2013/05/german-cancer-research-center-lies.html

What's your drive for spreading 13 year old disinformation @Kaleidystopia ?

Also, where have I said vaping is safe?

Because popcorn lung is from a chemical in cigarettes, a chemical that’s banned in e liquids here
EVALI was caused by vitamin E from what I remember and THC

there is a huge difference between
buying illegal unregulated vapes/THC/god knows what
mixing your own liquid/buying from a proper website

it’s like saying vodka is dangerous because people are dying from drinking illegal cheap stuff with I dunno, anti freeze in. But blaming the vodka

From Public Health England 2022 (page 99):

Postscript on ‘E-cigarette, or vaping, product use-associated lung injury' (EVALI) outbreak

The ‘EVALI’ outbreak was discussed in detail in our 2020 and 2021 reports (3, 5). The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) concluded that: ‘tetrahydrocannabinol (THC)-containing e-cigarette, or vaping products, particularly from informal sources like friends, family, or in-person or online dealers, are linked to most EVALI cases and play a major role in the outbreak” and “Vitamin E acetate is strongly linked to the EVALI outbreak’, and this was endorsed in a subsequent published paper (53). While the advent of vaping as a novel and less harmful drug delivery device provided the conditions for EVALI, it is now clear that EVALI was not caused by nicotine vaping.

Unfortunately, as discussed in chapter 15 (harm perceptions and communications), studies have shown that perceptions of the absolute harm, relative harm of vaping compared to smoking, and perceived addictiveness of vaping all increased after EVALI. This included one study carried out in the UK (54). An analysis of why nicotine vaping is not implicated in EVALI and the implications of the mislabelling and miscommunications around EVALI has been published, although not peer reviewed (55).

https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/633469fc8fa8f5066d28e1a2/Nicotine-vaping-in-England-2022-report.pdf

here is the analysis they talk about:
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/367899018_The_outbreak_of_lung_injuries_often_known_as_EVALI_was_nothing_to_do_with_nicotine_vaping

Honestly sounds like you work for Big Vape 😂Your take on this is not even supported by the bits you've quoted. I haven't got the time or energy to go through it all, but for a start vaping HAS been associated with EVALI - literally the E stands for e-cigarette and the V for vaping...

And the 2022 report also supports what this report is saying - there are known harms caused by vaping and there needs to be a lot more research to properly understand them. That vaping is safer than smoking (as far as we currently know) does not mean vaping is safe. Pretending otherwise is disingenuous.

There just isn't the evidence to support your bullish confidence that vaping is safe, particularly not long term evidence. The wide numbers of vape designs, flavours and formulations also muddies the research, along with people switching from tobacco products, or still using them occasionally.

All in all it's very likely vaping will continue to be shown to cause harms, with some aspects (flavours, additives etc) worse than others, but none of them without risk above not vaping at all. The same as with smoking. The same as with alcohol use.

I don't understand what your drive is here. Self delusion or vested interest?

It can't be an accident that millions of children vape when they would have never considered smoking

Among 11-17 year olds in Great Britain, 6% (370K) currently vape. Among the 81% who have never smoked, 1% currently vape.

https://ash.org.uk/resources/view/use-of-e-cigarettes-among-young-people-in-great-britain

It's been very heavily regulated since the tobacco products directive in 2016. There's a huge list of data manufacturers have to provide to MHRA for every liquid, every flavour, every strength, every device and component.

https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2016/507/part/6/made

In fact, the requirements are so onerous that it has probably helped shift the market away from small producers in favour of big tobacco companies who were already set up for this kind of reporting.

I’m slim. I’ve never been overweight, and I don’t find it difficult to remain so. Does that mean everyone else can do the same?
These threads honestly! When you see over weight people eating a donut do you sneer that they are “embarrassing and pathetic”?
Nicotine is an addiction like anything else. Quite why it’s acceptable to be so bloody rude or how, in some odd way, seeing other people vaping makes others feel quite so superior, I’ll never know.

I read the book, it worked for a while but I relapsed. So I signed up for the workshop, delivered by the actual man himself (this was years ago, before he died). It didn't work so I took them up on their guarantee which says you can attend again free of charge. When I got there it was a special session run for relapsers - some were back for the 5th or 6th time. Anyway, once again it didn't work and, while the workshop was free, it was costing me a lot in travel, so I cut my losses and didn't go back again.

I'm really pleased for anyone who has managed to quit using Allen Carr's method. It works for lots of people and I would always say it's worth a try for people who haven't yet.

But it doesn't work for everyone and I really dislike this insistence that it does from some of his advocates.

This is atrocious!

Research also shows that while vapes are less harmful than tobacco products, they can have negative effects on health.

The link here goes to a literature review which claims nicotine vaping is responsible for EVALI, lipoid pneumonia and bronchiolitis obliterans (popcorn lung). These claims are false.

In 2024, the number of people who vape in Great Britain exceeded the number of people who smoke for the first time.

Is this a bad thing? The BMJ article uses ONS data, available here:

https://www.ons.gov.uk/peoplepopulationandcommunity/healthandsocialcare/healthandlifeexpectancies/bulletins/adultsmokinghabitsingreatbritain/2024

We can see from this that smoking rates continue to fall, quit rates have risen sharply and the proportion of vapers who are ex-smokers has increased. Could it be that people are using vapes as intended - to quit smoking?

Vaping is increasing among 11-to-17-year-olds and among those who have never smoked.

No it isn't. The link here goes to ASH's 2025 stats on youth vaping, which shows that in this age group, ever vaping has plateaued since 2023, current vaping has plateaued since 2022 and the proportion of never smokers who currently vape has fallen sharply since 2023. ASH have just released their latest stats which shows a continuation of these trends: 6% currently vape, 2% vape daily, 1% of never smokers currently vape.

https://ash.org.uk/resources/view/use-of-e-cigarettes-among-young-people-in-great-britain

Evidence suggests that actions by some regions to ban certain e-liquid flavours can reduce vaping. However, evidence also suggests that banning e-liquid flavours may have unintended consequences, including more people buying and using illicit and/or vaping unregulated products.

The authors fail to mention the other unintended consequence highlighted in the linked study - banning flavours led to an increase in smoking.

I don't have time to go through every link in detail. Not all of them are to scientific studies - the authors have linked to a guardian article and a general interest journal for the US veteran community among others.

Many of the links go to literature reviews of some quite old research. Some of the literature reviews reference other literature reviews and you have to dig quite deep to get to the actual science. At one point I ended up at that 2015 experiment where they fired a CE4 at 5 volts and discovered it chucked out a load of formaldehyde (no shit!). There were a couple more recent examples of the same error - pushing coils way past the point they would be tolerable to vape.

Data on how these compounds cause smoking-related diseases has led scientists to infer that, since higher-temperature vapes create more toxic aerosols, it is reasonable to assume that vapes with more powerful device settings are likely to be more harmful.

Like the articles they link to, the authors show a deep misunderstanding of the normal operating conditions of various vape setups.

Some of the linked research was irrelevant to the UK, e.g. the ethanol study from 2017 which looked at eliquids from the US, and the evaluation of cinnamaldehyde from Australia which noted that it was probably banned in the UK.

The biggest question I have is why this 'rapid response' ignores the vast body of research produced by public health england between 2015 and 2022.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/nicotine-vaping-in-england-2022-evidence-update

Basically, if it was published before 2022, PHE will have considered it because their literature reviews were exhaustive, and their conclusion in 2022 remained as it was in 2015 - while not completely harmless, vaping poses only a small fraction of the risk of smoking.

On the upside, we were treated to a cute diagram of a gen 2 device. I can't remember when I last saw one of these but I'm pretty sure they never had microprocessors in the tank!

I don't think it has. For people like me who were long term smokers they have been an amazingly effective harm reduction tool. And I think people forget how widespread smoking used to be. Many of the young people who vape now would have smoked.

I do think they need to be better controlled but overall I think they are a benefit to have.

What are you talking about. It’s simply a book that when a smoker has set their mind to trying to quit it helps the person understand the journey they are going to go through when withdrawing from nicotine and he explains why it’s so addictive. If you don’t want to quit or can’t be bothered to put the effort in then the book will be no help at all. It’s not a magic book.

You are wrong that there is no evidence of harm with vapes. Obviously more time is needed to understand the harms better, and those harms do seem likely to be less than with tobacco products, but it is naive to keep peddling this line.

There are links to the evidence in this short summary:

post.parliament.uk/health-effects-of-vape-device-components/?utm_source=POST+alerts&utm_campaign=b2e3cff355-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2026_06_30_09_00&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bf17dda729-b2e3cff355-449394598&mc_cid=b2e3cff355&mc_eid=256d62b7d0

Ahh, no vape can equal the deliciousness of a cigarette.

Those who vape seem to do so in a way which is a sort of ‘dare you to say something ‘ way. Puffed out over people with no care. I wish it would stay in a fog over their head. But it doesn’t.
Lo and behold they now realise it is not healthy. There is a surprise.

I used to smoke and remember how those that did never understood what people meant when they said it was anti-social. I did once I gave up.

I see it as little different to smoking. And just as anti-social. I hope it goes out of date quickly.

Tobacco companies are behind many of the vaping brands.
I also can't believe that vapes have been allowed to get as prolific as they are. But no doubt there was pressure from the tobacco companies on government. I'm sure it's no coincidence that as measures around cigarettes and tobacco got stricter - for example, not being allowed on display - vapes suddenly took off. Openly sold in supermarkets.
The impact has been massive:
Popular with teens
Plastic use and disposable rubbish
Crappy shops in the high street, etc.

But as ever, follow the money.

I'm not saying it's great that kids are vaping or denying the environmental impact of disposable vapes, but it's a fact that if everyone who might have started smoking starts vaping instead, many fewer people will die prematurely. So anything that is done to try and minimise harm from vaping needs to be clear that smoking is a lot, lot, worse.
This is what the NHS says:

Is vaping less harmful than smoking cigarettes?
Yes, nicotine vaping is not risk-free, but it is less harmful than smoking.
In 2022, leading tobacco experts reviewed evidence about the harms of vaping. They found that "in the short and medium-term, vaping poses a small fraction of the risks of smoking".
Cigarettes release thousands of different chemicals when they burn, many are poisonous and up to 70 can cause cancer. Most of the harmful chemicals in cigarette smoke, including tar and carbon monoxide, are not contained in vape aerosol.

https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/ready-to-quit-smoking/vaping-to-quit-smoking/vaping-myths-and-the-facts/

This isn’t the fault of the councils. When the government started moving towards a smokeless environment and society was finding smoking increasingly unacceptable, the big tobacco companies needed to continue to make money and actively developed the substitute products. Councils have to deal with the fall out.
I agree with the OP that it’s actually worse.

Smoking just doesn't have the cool edge that it once did anymore

I disagree. I was out with a bunch of 20 somethings recently and loads of them were smoking roll ups. Virtually chain smoking.

Children are addicted to nicotine because of vapes. Many who wouldn’t have smoked cigarettes, they now vape and don’t think it’s harmful at all. It’s way too enticing to children and young adults.
I have vaped for many years but I smoked cigarettes for over 20 years and I used it to get off the cigarettes which worked. It was only supposed to be a stop smoking tool, when I came off the cigarettes and started the vape no one except ex smokers vaped, it it certainly wasn’t popular like it is now, and there were no disposable vapes you bought a pen or a mod.

I don't think they needed to be prescription only. There should be more robust action on the illicit trade though.

Pretty sure the advice is that vaping is preferable to smoking, but people who have never smoked should not start vaping. And that is the issue and why i agree that vapes should've been prescription only.

You will cough, the same as if you quit smoking and don’t vape because of the tiny hairs repairing themselves
I choose to believe cancer research and the NHS and public health England that vaping IS safer than smoking, much safer

people never get this animated about people drinking nightly or sunbathing which is much more likely to cause issues

Oh rubbish! I know nicotine doesn’t cause lung cancer but seriously, to believe that inhaling chemicals deep down into your lungs doesn’t cause any long term health issues is ridiculous and wishful bloody thinking! I remember temporarily using e cigarettes whilst trying to quit, and coughing more on them than on cigarettes. You are just kidding yourself.

The awful vape shops which often are a front fir criminal activity too.

So many children vape. Imagine the damage long term of inhaling chemicals, fragrance, taste, the smell from most vapes is a sickly stink. Let alone the nicotine addiction