In an email response to research published in the British Medical Journal insinuating e-cigarettes cause UK teens to take up smoking , Richard Hyslop , Chief Executive of the IBVTA , had the following to say :
“ The key issue is not how many children try vaping , but how many vape regularly , and how many having tried vaping , go on to smoke tobacco cigarettes . We know that 97 per cent of vapers are adult current or former smokers .”
Richard Hyslop went on to assert : “ There is no evidence of vaping acting as a gateway into smoking . If there were , smoking rates would be rising as vaping has become more popular , instead smoking rates are at their lowest levels , including amongst children . The UK currently has the second lowest smoking rates in the EU . A point supported by the authors of this research .”
Research backing the response was also included in the email , listed below Hyslop ’ s own words . He cited the ASH ( Action on Smoking and Health ) study confirming that there are 2.9 million UK vapers , 1.5 million of whom have given up smoking completely . ASH have also shown that children are not vaping in significant numbers , with vape products rare and “ confined almost entirely to those who currently or have previously smoked .”
Teenagers who do vape mostly use nicotine-free liquids , and ASH ’ s most recent survey on the subject “ found the lowest recorded smoking rates among children ever across the UK : only 18 per cent of 11 to 15-yearolds had tried smoking in 2014 compared with 42 per cent in 2003 .”
The claim about 97 % of vapers being adult current or former smokers comes from the Office of National Statistics . Queen
“ smoking rates in this age group now are declining at least as fast as they were before e-cigarettes started ”
Mary University in London have shown that “ a child trying a tobacco cigarette for the first time is 50 per cent likely to become a regular smoker ,” and that the same correlation cannot be claimed for children who try e-cigarettes becoming regular vapers .
The organisation took their response to the airwaves , debating the survey ’ s assertions on BBC Radio Wales on August 18 . On the previous day , the IBVTA twitter account sent out a statement made by member Professor Robert West from University College London on the BMJ ’ s journal Tobacco Control , which bears repeating here considering these more recent claims :
“ It seems unlikely that e-cigarette use by young people is causing more of them to smoke , because smoking rates in this age group now are declining at least as fast as they were before e-cigarettes started to become popular .”
Throughout their steadfast support of vaping , it is worth repeating that the IBVTA have gone out of their way to discourage youth vaping and renounce any company that markets e-cigarettes to anyone who doesn ’ t need them , including non-smokers and the underage .
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