England: E-cig Use Statistics

[Papa Lazarou]

This was posted on UKVapers, but I thought you guys might be interested too. Some statistics on smoking and e-cig use have been released by Smoking In England/University College London. They have been gathering data on e-cigarettes since 2011.

It's the three Powerpoint files at the top - Latest Statistics - Smoking In England

Some of the more interesting points in my opinion are:

- 20% of smokers and 30% of recent ex-smokers in England currently use e-cigs

- Rapid gain in e-cig use prevalence from the start of data (2011) until Q3 2013, levelling off in the last 12 months

- E-cigs are currently the most popular quitting method in England (ahead of over the counter NRT and prescribed medication)

- Use of e-cigs by never smokers is extremely rare.

- Overall prevalence of both smoking and nicotine use have declined over the period

- Both percentage of smokers attempting to quit and the percentage of those attempts being successful have risen significantly over the period, despite the decline in the use of OTC medication.

Some of the guys over on UKVapers query the statistics regarding use levelling off in the last 12 months. It does seem that availability has increased dramatically recently. I'm not sure of the truth, however it is important to consider these statistics are mainly looking at groups who are either smokers or recent (12 months) ex-smokers. It may be that more vapers in the general population stop use over time, in contrast to long term vapers like myself and many others on "enthusiast" forums.

I think these statistics certainly help back an argument against outright bans (which is what the so called WHO hopes to achieve). There is nothing here that indicates smoking rates are going up as a result of e-cig use, and in fact show the direct opposite. The extremely low rate of use by non-smokers is also encouraging, and the overall trending down of both nicotine use and smoking suggests that the "gateway effect" is vastly over-estimated by the anti groups, if it exists at all.

 

[WhiteHighlights]

One possible factor impacting ecig use in the UK was discussed here: http://www.e-cigarette-forum.com/fo...mokers-uk-being-swayed-negative-pr-ecigs.html

 

[Papa Lazarou]

Good point yes. The constant barrage of misinformation from the pro pharmaceutical groups may be succeeding in keeping the smoking rates higher.

 

[DrMA]

The leveling off in ecig uptake by smokers in the last 12 months is very troubling. It means the ANTZ smear campaign is working as intended in protecting cigarette markets by deterring smokers from switching to a much safer alternative.

 

[Nate760]

The leveling off in ecig uptake by smokers in the last 12 months is very troubling. It means the ANTZ smear campaign is working as intended in protecting cigarette markets by deterring smokers from switching to a much safer alternative.

I'd have to know more about the data gathering process before I took this view. There's been a similar "leveling off" here in the US, but it's not due to fewer people vaping; it's due to sales migrating from tracked channels (gas stations and convenience stores) to untracked ones (online and vape shops).

 

[DrMA]

I'd have to know more about the data gathering process before I took this view. There's been a similar "leveling off" here in the US, but it's not due to fewer people vaping; it's due to sales migrating from tracked channels (gas stations and convenience stores) to untracked ones (online and vape shops).

The STS data comes from surveys of users, not tracked sales channels.

 

[Nate760]

The STS data comes from surveys of users, not tracked sales channels.

In that case, it's possible that population size could be a potential mitigating factor. As there's a much smaller pool of potential vapers in the UK compared to the US, it stands to reason they they'd reach a point of critical mass far sooner than we do, where most of the people who have an inclination to try e-cigs have already done so.

I'm not trying to argue with you here, I just have a hard time believing the leveling off is solely or primarily due to a government misinformation campaign (though, to be sure, such campaigns certainly don't help matters). I know quite a few Englishmen and Scotsmen, and they tend to mistrust their public health authorities just as much as we do over here.

 

[Stosh]

The survey questions used can make a difference in how the statistics play out. Here's the site that has the data and questions used for the power point presentations.....STS Documents - Smoking In England

This section contains documents relating to the Smoking Toolkit Study including questionnaires, reports of findings, lists of variables and more.

The questionnaire seems to ignore smokers who have been quit for over a year, even if they are continuing to use e-cigarettes. And e-cigs look to be an added category for the early surveys, possibly because they were getting too many "Other" answers with e-cigarettes specified.