2.6 Million Shift to Vaping in Britain as electronic cigarette use continues to rise

A rise has been witnessed in the number of people switching to electronic cigarettes in the United States and UK. As per Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), there are now 2.6 million people who are e-smokers in Britain. The number is up from 2014 when 2.1 million people used electronic cigarettes.

One of the main reasons for the rise is an increase in the number of ex-smokers using electronic cigarettes. The campaign group said that the figure has clearly shown that more number of people believe that e-cigarettes can help in giving up tobacco.

A rise has also been witnessed in percentage of people who believe that e-cigarettes are equally or more dangerous. Last year, 15% believed the same, but now the percentage stands at 22%.

“The growth of this false perception risks discouraging many smokers from using electronic cigarettes to quit and keep them smoking instead which would be bad for their health and the health of those around them”, said study researchers.

King's College London conducted the analysis. As per which, electronic cigarette use has increased among ex-smokers from 4.5% in 2014 to 6.7% in 2015. The percentage of current smokers remained same at 17.6%.

As many as 48% people started e-smoking, as they wanted to quit smoking habit forever. Another reason was to prevent them from again enter into this vicious circle. Researchers have noticed a chance in the devices used for e-smoking.

In 2014, 55% of vapers used cigalikes that are similar to tobacco cigarettes. But this year, people prefer tank model having containers that can be refilled with e-liquid. Now, 66% of e-smokers use tank model.

Study researchers said that it is good that people prefer tank e-cigarettes as they are considered to be more effective at helping people to quit than cigalikes.