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New CDC Data Suggest E-Cigarettes Are Helping Smokers Quit

The same survey finds that never-smokers rarely become regular vapers.

People who welcome e-cigarettes as an alternative to the conventional kind hope they will help smokers quit, thereby dramatically reducing the health risks they face. People who fear e-cigarettes worry that vaping will encourage smoking among people who otherwise never would have tried tobacco by getting them hooked on nicotine. New survey data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provide evidence that top officials at that agency are wrong to favor the latter view.

According to the 2014 National Health Interview Survey, 13 percent of American adults have tried an e-cigarette, including 48 percent of current smokers, 55 percent of "recent" quitters (defined as respondents who had last smoked less than a year before the survey), 9 percent of "long-term" quitters (defined as respondents who had last smoked a year or more before the survey), and just 3 percent of people who have never smoked. The same survey found that 4 percent of adults were current e-cigarettes users (meaning they vaped "every day" or "some days"), including 16 percent of current smokers, 22 percent of recent quitters, 2 percent of long-term quitters, and just 0.4 percent of never-smokers.

CDCCDC

In other words, never-smokers rarely become regular vapers, which suggests the CDC's fears are misplaced, especially since there is no evidence that never-smokers who vape are therefore more likely to become smokers or that the rising popularity of e-cigarettes has given a boost to conventional cigarettes. To the contrary, vaping and smoking rates are moving in opposite directions. The CDC's survey data suggest that's more than a coincidence: Not only was vaping much more common among current and former smokers than among never-smokers, but current smokers who had tried to quit in the previous year were more likely to be vapers than those who had not.

CDCCDC

Specifically, 55 percent of smokers who had tried to quit in the previous year were ever-vapers, compared to 40 percent of smokers who had not tried to quit. The rates for current e-cigarette use were 20 percent and 12 percent, respectively. It looks like e-cigarettes may very well play an important role in moving away from the real thing. 

[via Michael Siegel]

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  • thom||

    But... BIG TOBACCO!

  • Almanian's Rusty Woodchipper||

    + THETRUTH.com

  • The Last American Hero||

    Nice, but since this has nothing to do with epidemics or bioterror, the CDC needs a budget cut.

  • Drunicusrex||

    I think you are confusing their mission. Do you think that the Centers for Disease Control should actually be concerned with communicable diseases?
    They have guns and racism to study. And the looming threat of right wing extremism.

  • Plàya Manhattan.||

    Since when do facts matter?

  • sarcasmic||

    Facts are decided by consensus, and the consensus among those who want to control e-cigarettes like tobacco is that they're just as bad as tobacco.

  • ||

    The real question is will you be able to hold your breath long enough for it to go from verboten to mandatory?

  • Jerryskids||

    But is vaping better than a free-trade organic vegan non-GMO gluten-free locavore zero trans fat low-sodium no HFCS diet followed by an hour of cardio and an hour of mortification? I think not, therefore we must push to have vaping banned just as much as bacon, Big Gulps, being a lazy fat ass, or any other form of anti-social badthinkery.

  • pan fried wylie||

    "Hey, kid, cmere. You like that cherry-walnut vape that doesn't make your clothes smell like shit, doesnt yellow your teeth, doesn't make you hack up shit and cough all the time? Well, have I got an EVEN better product for you that does ALL THAT UNDESIREABLE SHIT AND MORE.....hey, wait, kid, come back, 50cents off, come baaaack!"

  • bacon-magic||

    Clouds bro, not stinky ones that have the cancer.

  • Old.Mexican||

    In other words, never-smokers rarely become regular vapers, which suggests the CDC's fears are misplaced


    They're not misplaced. The CDC fears are never misplaced. They're entirely manufactured in order to maintain a semblance of purpose and usefulness before the eyes of a gullible public. The whole fear thing is a big hoax designed to keep the budget dollars rolling in.

    Do you think the DoD's fears of a mighty Chinese fleet is misplaced? It is entirely manufactured. Same purpose.
    Do you think the FDA's fears of poisonous children's toys is misplaced? It is entirely manufactured. Same purpose. All of them want more money, so they make up shit.

  • sarcasmic||

    You mean people who seek out the power to fuck up lives are willing to lie in order to gain more power? I'd have never thunk it.

  • Tony||

    Your ranting, paranoid style makes me want to learn more about your philosophy.

  • Old.Mexican||

    Re: Tony the Marxian,

    Your ranting, paranoid style makes me want to learn more about your philosophy.


    That's a funny statement considering you have demonstrated total unwillingness to learn anything even when I am not ranting.

  • sarcasmic||

    I don't think it's so much that he is unwilling to learn. It's more like he is incapable of learning. That requires thinking and understanding. Neither of which he is capable of doing. All he can do is memorize stuff and parrot it back. But he cannot think critically about what it is that he memorizes. Because he can't judge what he memorizes, he instead judges the source. If the source has the correct politics, then they must be a worthy teacher. If not then the substance of what they say is just something to ignore.

    If some prominent leftist came out and supported something that we support, he'd suddenly agree that it is a good idea.

    Principals, not principles.

  • Tony||

    I tried vaping for a while, but I didn't like the effect that the water vapor had on my lungs, and it was too much work. Nicotine gum has been working far better than expected. I still cheat and have maybe 1 or 2 real cigs before bed, but I can make it through the work day just fine on the gum. May try lozenges next. Smoking was never about the motions or rituals or situations for me. It was all about the nicotine. So this is a good solution for me.

  • sarcasmic||

    If you did a little research you'd see that not all e-cigs are the same. Some have a very easy draw to them that allow you to get lots of nicotine without much effort. Also, there are prescriptions that work for some people, but I imagine they would conflict with whatever medication you are currently taking for your mental illness.

  • Tony||

    Okay... I prefer the gum, but thanks.

  • Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair||

    I have begun noticing a lot of anti-vaping billboards recently, which surprises me -- those things aren't cheap. I wonder if Big Tobacco is in bed with the Puritans on this.

  • SFC B||

    Given how dependent some parts of the government have become on taxes on tobacco it wouldn't shock me if the ONDC was providing some money to oppose vaping.

  • sarcasmic||

    Tobacco Settlement loot.

  • Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair||

    That could be it -- puritans really are so stupid that anyone in league with their pet crusade is ok. I be you're right.

  • Dystopian Prophet||

    Shame on you for your own stupidity. You couldn't even define Puritanism to save your life. You have some hazy idea from Thanksgiving displays, and you just run with it.

  • Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair||

    Don't be such a semantic puritan. I quite clearly meant puritanical morons, and the religious sect has nothing to do with it. The word existed in its normal meaning long before the religious sect got hold of it.

  • Dystopian Prophet||

    History fail. The Puritans grew and smoked tobacco. They also built the first brewery and distilleries in North America. If you're thinking of prohibitions, you're thinking of the Methodists; not the Puritans.

    Can always spot the public school products, jeez.

  • Scarecrow & WoodChipper Repair||

    As I said elsewhere (if you can comment twice, I can too!), puritan has a quite clear meaning independent of the religious sect. I wonder what got your panties in such a twist.

  • Zeb||

    It's even easier to spot the smug assholes who think they are a lot smarter than they actually are.

  • bacon-magic||

    Go fuck yourself. /public school student

  • brady949||

    I saw an anti-Ecigarette billboard on the freeway yesterday.

  • Almanian's Rusty Woodchipper||

    I saw a werewolf drinkin' a Pina Colada at Trader Vic's....

  • lindy.coleman||

    I started vaping 16 months ago and I quit smoking cigs 16 months ago. I have not wanted a real cig since that time. Vaping was the easiest way to quit for me. I have lowered the nic in my e juice down to 6%. I feel that the Big Tobacco companies are afraid of losing money because they are losing customers. And I also feel that a non-smoker will not start smoking after they tried vaping. The taste of an e-cig with all the awesome different flavors is nice. When you then put a real cig in your mouth, the taste is nasty. No way I'm going back. I love my e cig.

  • DaveSs||

    Two years for me.
    There are occasional times when I might want the real thing, but it's easy to not give in. Nothing like the difficulty of going cold turkey.

  • Dystopian Prophet||

    #VapingSavedMyLife #NotBlowingSmoke

  • bacon-magic||

    #vapingdoesn'tneedsmugdouchebagslikeyou #blowyourself

  • moflicky||

    None of this matters. the FDA will soon issue a new regulatory structure that will effectively make all current vaping gear and e-liquids illegal, subject to FDA approval - a process that will cost millions per product.

    Since the best gear and e-liquids manufactured in this country are produced by small businesses - mom and pop shops, it will put most of them out of business. Who will step into the void? That's right, big tobacco and their shitty gas station cig-a-like products. They're the only ones who can afford to jump through the FDA hoops.

    and we all know how much we can trust big T to do the right thing, right?

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