isn’t an adult smoker. Naturally, a shrinking pool of people
be they children, teenagers or adults taking up the activity of
cigarette smoking will mean a drop in the number of future
vapers even in the most optimistic circumstances.
Where smoking falls and vaping rises, the two trends (as
reflections of demographic lifestyles) are destined to meet
at some point. Here at home, our most recent statistics paint
an encouraging picture: see our story on the latest NHS Stop
Smoking statistics for full coverage of how this is playing out.
Though not destined for perpetual growth, we are still looking at
a potential scenario in which there exists a healthy, normalised
vapour product market, though barring a resurgence in
smoking, the clock is ticking on the boom period.
very same evidence update from PHE which vindicated their
relative safety compared to combustible cigarettes revealed
some disconcerting data.
“From 2013 to 2017, nearly four times as many adults thought
that e-cigarettes were as harmful, or more harmful, than
smoking (7 percent in 2013 to 26 percent in 2017).”
Perhaps this can teach the vape industry that even with smoking
rates falling from a combination of governmental force and
public will, apathy may not be an appropriate response, and a
harshly anti-smoking culture doesn’t guarantee the prosperity
of vaping.
However, the most optimistic of circumstances assumes a
regulatory and political environment that still allows the market
to prosper. Tobacco control is not always an automatic win for
vaping – as shown by initiatives and laws that tie both activities
together under the same classification, the TPD serving as the
ultimate example.
There’s also the uncomfortable news that anti-vaping
propaganda works. Despite a growing amount of support from
public health experts, public views of vaping are worsening. The
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