Health
So Far, E-Cigarettes Don’t Seem to Have Inspired Many Smokers to Quit
[Smithsonian.com]
When electronic cigarettes began gaining traction several years ago, they were billed as a way to wean smokers off of traditional cigarettes and cut down on smoking-related health problems. So far, however, that doesn’t seem to be happening. According to a new study, e-cigarettes have not made a significant difference in the number of people smoking one way or another, Nature News reports.
The researchers followed around 950 smokers for a year and asked them about their habits and thoughts and attempts to quit. Around 9 percent used e-cigarettes, but they were no more or less likely to quit than smokers who stuck with tobacco. “Advertising suggesting that e-cigarettes are effective for smoking cessation should be prohibited until such claims are supported by scientific evidence,” the researchers told Nature.