Vaping Less Likely To Help Smokers Quit Tobacco

Cigarette smokers who switch to vaping are less likely to successfully quit traditional cigarettes and more likely to continue using them than those who quit tobacco, a study published by JAMA Network Open found, Brian Dunleavy reported for United Press International (UPI).

Photo Insert: About 40 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes, and nearly 5 million middle-and high-school students use at least one tobacco product.

They also are at higher risk for smoking relapse than those who switch to other "combustible" tobacco products, such as cigars and pipes, the researchers said. Just under 42% of smokers who moved to e-cigarettes were not using traditional cigarettes at least one year or more after making the switch, the data showed. However, 36% relapsed and were smoking cigarettes one year or more after switching to vaping.

In comparison, more than half of study participants who stopped using tobacco completely still were not smoking cigarettes one year later, though just over one-third relapsed.

"Quitting smoking is one of the most difficult things to do because of the addictiveness of nicotine," study co-author John Pierce told UPI in an email. Many of the health complications caused by cigarette smoking can be traced to "the tar that smokers ingest when they get their nicotine from burning tobacco," said Pierce, a professor of family medicine and public health at the University of California, San Diego.

As a result, there is an "idea that they can reduce the likelihood of health consequences by switching to products that don't require burning tobacco for them to get their nicotine," Pierce said.

However, "our research indicates that smokers do better by quitting nicotine completely, not switching to another nicotine source," he said. About 40 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes, and nearly 5 million middle-and high-school students use at least one tobacco product, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates.

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