Has vaping caused more problems than it has solved?

Nicotine is addictive, however it doesn't cause lung damage - it's the tar/toxic combustion chemicals in tobacco that damage lung tissue.

Vaping IS less harmful than smoking tobacco. There is no evidence that vaping induces any chronic lung issue never mind 'significant chronic lung issues'. There is no evidence gathered thus far by valid public health bodies of ANY harm to lungs. So either you have an entirely unique gift for foretelling the future, or you're a scare mongering pish talker. Which is it?

You clearly don’t have plenty of brain cells or you would see the highly addictive nature of nicotine, the drug that has convinced your addicted brain that vaping is so much better for you than smoking, when in reality inhaling that crap down into your lungs almost certainly guarantees that you will end up with some quite significant chronic lung issues as you get older. There is no escaping it. Quitting nicotine is the only answer and I speak as an ex smoker.

I'm a retired secondary school teacher. My impression (based on what I saw at work) is that there are more children inhaling vapes compared to the number of children who used to smoke.

Part of the problem is that children are attracted to the different flavours.

Believe me they do! They just semi wake enough to reach for the vape. Or they're asleep holding it. People can get horrifically addicted to it.

How do people vape in their sleep?

I was really excited when they said they were going to ban disposable vapes. Was then gutted to learn that they just added a charger to the bottom that allowed people to get maybe an extra 100 hits and then still had to chuck them after. So many fires caused by people putting them in their normal waste. The government should just ban them. We were finally reaching a place where people under a certain age would never legally be able to buy cigs. Vaping just feels like a replacement.

In my friendship group there were 4 smoke when we drink smokers (idiots!) myself being one of them. We all vowed to quit last summer. 2 of us did it without vapes and 2 did with vapes. The two who did it with vapes are now vaping all day every day. It’s so addictive, and so easy to hide.

I think it has in that the whole 'big tobacco' industry acknowledged a long time ago they were selling nicotine as that was what people were addicted to.

So now that vapes are cheap enough and provide a satisfying nicotine hit akin to smoking or in fact even more, they got an even wider demographic hooked on their product.

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

The worst thing about vaping is you can do it constantly. Even in your sleep. Chain smoking fags 24/7 would make someone feel sick. And they'd set fire to their beds. But people can just vape literally every two seconds.

@killerqueen2026

of course teenagers will try vapes, like they did with cigarettes or alcohol or weed.

Lots of kids didn't try cigarettes (or weed) - I didn't, DH didn't and our DS didn't! It was always a minority once they stopped the advertising, banned it in enclosed public places and hiked the prices . But it seems that there's now a majority of teens on vapes.

Only 25% of older teens were regular smokers at the turn of the century. A whopping three quarters weren't!

Vaping was/is a game changer for getting people off tobacco. The government has failed spectacularly by not regulating and making proper quality control a requirement. There are one or two suppliers in the UK who regulate themselves, responsible vapers will use those suppliers.

It's quite incredible how misinformed the general public are on the benefits around vaping. There'll always be gullible idiots who soak up tabloid media click bait, and who'll believe what any old dunce puts out on social media. It's a shame though, because vaping is by far the most effective nicotine replacement.

Our shitty government is introducing the vape tax later this year - making no effort to regulate the industry, but happy to take a cut of the profits!

I gave up smoking last year. No way was I going to start vaping. For one I didn't want to replace one addiction for another. Secondly, most of the places you can't smoke, you can't vape either. One of the reasons I wanted to stop smoking was to not be agitated when taking a long flight for example. Or having to leave a restaurant between courses. So being addicted to vaping wouldn't have solved that issue.

The Allen Carr book didn't work for me. Read it several times and nothing!

What worked for me was varenacline (formerly known as champix). I went through the NHS stop smoking service and they were really good.

As for young people. I think a % of those who vape would have tried smoking but certainly not all of them. I do think it should have been prescription only.

It's incorrect to say second hand vape doesn't have issues. It's too soon to tell exactly what the scope and magnitude of the issues with vapes are, second hand or direct, but there's enough evidence to say that there are issues, and that these will vary depending upon the type of vape. It's not a neutral activity.

DS (24) smoked, then vaped and gave up completely four years ago. DD (22) vapes having never smoked. I don't really know why, think she copied her work colleagues.

Oh come on, its a book telling you to think 'I dont want to smoke and I'm really clever for doing so'. If it worked, nobody would be smoking now because that is all they'd have to say whilst waving a magic book instead of a wand.

It doesn't work for 'everybody', any more than anorexia is cured by reading a book to say 'I like eating'

Because it’s a book that you can choose to buy or ignore. It’s not compulsory. 🤷🏻‍♀️😁

Then why hasnt his magical thinking caused the complete elimination of smoking in the years since it was first published?

I can see your point but it smells a lot less offensive than cigarette smoke which I absolutely hate. I can’t stand having to breathe in other peoples disgusting smoke.

You don't need a substitute - read Alan Carr's book and then stop. I did it, anyone can.

This is why ASH recently had to say that vaping is far, far better than smoking - all the negative stuff discourages smokers from changing to something massively less damaging.

Teenagers vaping would have been the ones smoking fifteen years ago. That's a parenting thing and a part of being a teenager thing, so trying to stop it being a cheaper, easily accessible, acceptable tasting choice for people who would not have been able to stop smoking is shortsighted, punitive and seeks to shift blame away from something that has zero to do with smokers or vapers.

A cynic might think the government has allowed vaping to become mainstream so they can tax it and replace the lost tobacco revenue

Anything injested into the lungs is not going to end well. Whether it be smoke or chemicals from a vape. They haven’t been around long enough to see the long term effects. Lets not forget smoking was prescribed once over.

People vape far more than they smoke, its a fact. You only have to look around to see people constantly chugging on the vape.

As for young people, i think there are far more who vape but wouldn’t of smoked first, for example the 13 -20 yos today are born in an era where smoking had been banned etc. If vapes had been kept as prescription only they probably wouldn’t of vaped.

Agree, what an irresponsible idea it was, and seems to be completely unregulated. When I see anyone vaping I judge them to be idiots, walking around like babies sucking on a dummy. It's pathetic, and I can't believe teens choose to do this.

I work in a vape store.

Not a newsagents, we don't sell anything other than vapes.

Our biggest demographic of customer is middle aged women.

I hardly see anyone under the age of 20 in my shop.

Yep it was Allen Carr’s book for women that helped me tremendously. I believe he did one for women giving up smoking and one for men as our brains work differently with addiction.

i have plenty of brain cells and I’m not sure what pieces you’re having to pick up. There would have been a lot more issues if I carried on smoking
I listen to doctors, consultants, surgeons, people that I have plenty of contact with due to health issues and their advice is not for me to start smoking again

people may prefer the smell of smoke but the dangers of second hand smoke are well established. Second hand vape doesn’t have issues