E-Cigarettes 95% Less Harmful Than Tobacco?

Vaping has gotten a bad rap lately. A lot of States, and countries want to treat e-juices and vaping products in the same category as tobacco.

But a new study suggests e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than tobacco.

Via Reuters:

Electronic cigarettes are around 95 percent less harmful than tobacco and should be promoted as a tool to help smokers quit, a study by an agency of Britain's Department of Health said on Wednesday.

E-cigarettes, tobacco-free devices people use to inhale nicotine-laced vapour, have surged in popularity on both sides of the Atlantic but health organisations have so far been wary of advocating them as a safer alternative to tobacco and governments from California to India have tried to introduce bills to regulate their use more strictly.

"E-cigarettes are not completely risk free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they carry just a fraction of the harm," said Professor Kevin Fenton from Public Health England, which carried out the study.

Most of the chemicals that cause smoking-related diseases are absent in e-cigarettes and the current best estimate is that e-cigarette use is around 95 percent less harmful to health than smoking, the study said.

Passive inhalation from an e-cigarette was also much less harmful.

The publicly-funded study goes against a 2014 report by the World Health Organization that called for stiff regulation of e-cigarettes and bans on their indoor use and sale to minors.

It also contradicts the finding of another study by researchers from the University of Southern California which said this week that U.S. teens who tried electronic cigarettes might be more than twice as likely to move on to smoking conventional cigarettes as those who have never tried the devices.

When you think about it, it makes perfect sense. Obviously, smoking isn't the best thing for your lungs. But the biggest problem with smoking TOBACCO isn't so much the nicotine, it's everything else in there. If you're using a nicotine e-juice from a trusted company, obviously it's going to be less harmful on your lungs.

With science, you have to give things time to be re-tested and confirm results. But this would seem to be good news for vaping fans.