Vaping in the News – IBVTA myth busting
The Disposable Vapes ban has been successful in environmental terms, and retailers have been surprised by the uptake from users. The IBVTA are reporting that sales of replacement pods are outstripping sales of the new refillable devices – in many cases by a factor of between 3 and 9.
However, some media outlets have shared narratives that a new generation of multi-use vapes are enabling users to by-pass the ban. One such article in the Telegraph led to the IBVTA writing to the editor countering the article’s assertions.
IBVTA Board Member Liam Humberstone wrote to the editor: “Our members report that replacement pod sales are, in many cases, already higher than the associated vapes that house the battery. This means consumers are recharging them rather than discarding them. This in turn means a substantial reduction in UK vape waste from responsible retailers, evident even before the ban became effective. Every pod replaced represents a vape battery not being discarded. The ban may reduce battery waste by over 75% compared with single use vapes.”
Other media outlets have been reporting on studies looking at the links between tobacco use and vaping, and one by an American university recently made headlines in the UK.
University of Michigan researchers, in collaboration with Penn State University and Purdue University, compared three birth cohorts in the UK: those born in 1958, 1970, and 2001. They concluded that teens who vape are 33% more likely to smoke cigarettes once other risk factors had been considered.
But were those headlines accurate? Several academics cautioned against reaching that conclusion.
Dr John Robins, Research Associate at the Nicotine Research Group, King’s College London (KCL), said: “This study uses data from three large longitudinal surveys and compares the prevalence of cigarette smoking among 16-17 year olds in 1974, 1986, and 2018. The headline finding that youth smoking rates have declined from 33% to 12% over this period is robust and reassuring, but the conclusions they draw about the role of e-cigarette use on the likelihood of smoking in 2018 are not justified.”
Prof Lion Shahab of the Tobacco and Alcohol Research Group at University College London, agreed: “In short, while the findings are interesting, they do not support the claim that vaping causes smoking. Instead, they likely reflect shared vulnerabilities among youth who engage in both behaviours.”
Finally, Prof Peter Hajek, Director of the Health and Lifestyle Research Unit at Queen Mary University of London, said: “The press release suggests that this means that in these teenagers, vaping leads to smoking, but it is more likely that the finding just shows that people attracted to vapes are also attracted to cigarettes, in the same way that compared to teetotallers, drinkers of white wine are more likely to also try red wine.”
The IBVTA continue to engage with the media to ensure that media pieces on vaping and tobacco use are accurate, factual, and show how vapes are helping smokers quit tobacco
