Electronic cigarettes may play a key role in smoking reduction and cessation, according to a recent study published in the journal Addictive Behaviors.
This research-based evidence corroborates data gleaned from studies conducted within the past two years and provides a great counterpoint to misleading information about how e-cigarettes work in the media.
Innovative Study, Impressive Results
The results proved that vaping effectively reduced the number of cigarettes smoked across the board, in both participants who were ex-smokers and those who joined the study as current smokers.
At the end of a one-month trial and at the end of a one-year period, only 6 percent of those who were ex-smokers had relapsed to tobacco. Compare this to the 88 percent relapse rate after one month without an alternative such as electronic cigarettes. When it came to those participants who were dual users, or smokers who also used e-cigs, 46 percent had eliminated tobacco from their lives entirely by the end of one year.
The official conclusion of the study was that “e cigarettes may contribute to relapse prevention in former smokers and smoking cessation in current smokers,” which is what many of us have been saying all along.
Data Vital to Future of E Cigs
Dr. Peter Hajek is the director of the Tobacco Dependence Research Unit, a source of clinical smoking cessation expertise based at the Royal London Hospital in the United Kingdom. Referencing the overwhelming amount of negativity aggrandized by the media regarding electronic cigarettes, Dr. Hajek had this to say:
“There are two products competing for smokers’ business. One kills half the users; the other one is at least an order of magnitude safer. It makes little sense to try to cripple the safer one so the deadly one maintains the market monopoly.”
Research continues to provide the e cigarette industry with the footing it needs to stand up against unreasonably harsh regulations. Perhaps with support from studies like this, e cigarette advocates may find a way to appeal to the sensibilities of the FDA and the CDC as well as other opposing organizations.
