UK Report: Teen Vaping Rate Drops to 15% as 63% See E-Cigs as Equally Harmful as Smoking

Key Points:

·The Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in the UK has reported that the rate of e-cigarette use among 18-year-olds has decreased for three consecutive years, while the rate among 16-17 year-olds has also declined for two years in a row. 

·The rate of smoking experimentation among adolescents aged 11-17 is 21%, surpassing the rate of e-cigarette experimentation for the first time at 20%. 

·The proportion of misconceptions about the harms of e-cigarettes has risen to 63%, and the number of young people who have never smoked but plan to do so has doubled in a year. 

·The Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA) believes that negative media coverage is contributing to misunderstandings and is calling for stronger age verification measures and reminders that "smoking is deadly.

【2Firsts News Flash】According to a report from Convenience Store on July 14th, the latest brief from Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) in the UK shows that the current e-cigarette usage rate among 18-year-olds has decreased for three consecutive years, dropping from 20% to 15%. The usage rate among 16-17 year-olds has also decreased over the past two years, from 15% to 12%. The usage rate among 11-15 year-olds has remained plateaued at 5%, but the Independent British Vape Trade Association (IBVTA) believes that this proportion is likely to decrease due to the recent ban on disposable e-cigarettes.

The IBVTA stated that it is premature to celebrate, but they "cautiously optimistic that teenage e-cigarette use in the UK will never reach the levels seen in the US in 2019-2020".

However, the association also points out that misconceptions about the relative harm of e-cigarettes and cigarettes are escalating. In 2013, only 13% of teenagers erroneously believed that e-cigarettes were as or more harmful than cigarettes; since then, this number has been increasing almost every year, with now 63% of 11-17 year olds believing that cigarettes are not more dangerous than e-cigarettes. IBVTA is concerned that this misunderstanding will lead to more young people trying smoking.

According to ASH data, the number of teenagers who have tried cigarettes for the first time has exceeded the number who have tried e-cigarettes. In the 11-17 age group, about 20% may have tried e-cigarettes, while 21% have tried smoking, the highest number since the survey series began in 2013.

Even more concerning is that the proportion of adolescents who have never smoked but say they "will soon try cigarettes" has doubled in the past year, from 0.9% to 2.0%, indicating that the number of 11-17 year olds attempting smoking will continue to rise.

IBVTA Chief Executive Officer Gillian Golden stated:

"Nowadays, most people mistakenly believe that e-cigarettes are as harmful as, or even more harmful than, traditional cigarettes. The ongoing negative media coverage has fueled this unfounded notion, leading to unintended consequences. The number of teenagers now trying smoking is higher than it was over a decade ago. It is important to remind the public once again: while e-cigarettes are not without risk, they are far safer than smoking; smoking is deadly, and no teenager should ever try it. IBVTA will continue to urge its members to strictly enforce age verification to ensure that e-cigarettes are only sold to adults who were already smokers."