Some experts believe vaping may be less harmful than smoking, but much remains unknown about its long-term effects. It still carries many of the same risks associated with smoking.

For many years, smoking has been a significant public health issue, with health professionals worldwide emphasizing its severe consequences and the risks it poses to society.

More recently, vaping has gained popularity as an alternative to traditional smoking. Although often perceived as a safer option, vaping is highly addictive, and its long-term effects remain uncertain due to its relatively recent introduction. Studies have begun to associate vaping with heightened risks of lung and heart diseases.

Another growing concern is the impact of vaping on children. Statistics show that vaping has become more prevalent among young people than smoking ever was. Between 2022 and 2023, the percentage of children trying vaping surged by 50%.

Vaping is often considered less harmful than smoking, though it is not without risks. Much remains to be understood about e-cigarettes and vaping, particularly regarding their long-term health effects.

For smokers looking to reduce health risks, quitting entirely is the best option. However, for those not ready to give up nicotine, transitioning to vaping may be a somewhat safer choice.

Delivering nicotine without inhaling the over 4,000 toxic substances found in cigarette smoke—such as acrolein, carbon monoxide, acetaldehyde, and cyanide—is considered a preferable alternative to smoking. Nicotine-containing e-cigarettes achieve this and have shown success in reducing smoking rates. In the UK, approximately 54.1% of the current 3.6 million adult e-cigarette users are former smokers.

Nicotine vaping may be significantly less harmful than smoking and is one of the most effective methods if you cannot quit nicotine entirely.

While not entirely risk-free, vaping is recommended only for adult smokers as a tool to help quit smoking and maintain abstinence.

Bottom Line:

Vaping appears for now to be healthier than smoking due to it having so many fewer chemicals. Smoking does not only addict you because of nicotine—though that is the main addiction—but also because of the over 4,000 other chemicals in a cigarette. These substances contribute to the addiction. So, while vaping is by no means healthy, it does seem, for now at least, that it is far better to get your nicotine hits via vaping. Additionally, vaping does not produce a horrid smell, so you won’t walk into a house and smell heavy tobacco or walk around smelling like a cigarette. That, for me, is one of the best benefits of vaping.

We will see in a decade the actual long-term impacts of vaping, but for now, vaping seems to be the better way to get your nicotine fix. Please note, there are no studies claiming that vaping is a safe way to consume nicotine. These are just the facts we currently have, which may change in the coming years.