Is vaping as harmful as smoking? What the evidence and a new survey say

A large share of smokers in the United Kingdom believe that vaping is just as harmful as smoking cigarettes, according to a new survey highlighted by the Guardian, a belief that public health experts say is mistaken and potentially harmful in its own right. The finding has reopened a long-running debate about how the risks of e-cigarettes are communicated.

The scientific consensus among UK health bodies has for some years held that vaping is substantially less harmful than smoking, though not risk-free. Cigarettes burn tobacco, producing tar and a cocktail of chemicals that cause cancer, heart disease and lung damage. E-cigarettes heat a liquid to create vapour and do not involve combustion, which removes many of the most dangerous byproducts of burning.

That is the basis for the guidance, repeated by several official agencies, that smokers who switch completely to vaping are likely to reduce their exposure to harmful substances. Crucially, the message has always come with two conditions attached: vaping is intended as a tool to help existing smokers quit, and it is not considered safe for people who do not already smoke, especially young people.

The worry raised by the new survey is that if smokers wrongly believe the two are equally dangerous, they may see no reason to switch. Someone who thinks a vape is no better than a cigarette has little incentive to make a change that, on the current evidence, would lower their risk. In that sense, experts argue, the misperception itself can keep people smoking.

Why the belief has spread is a question in itself. Vaping is newer than smoking, and its long-term effects are less well understood simply because the products have not existed for as many decades. Prominent stories about vaping-related harms, alarm over youth uptake, and the visible presence of nicotine have all contributed to public unease, sometimes blurring the distinction between relative and absolute risk.

That distinction is central. Saying vaping is less harmful than smoking is not the same as saying it is harmless. E-cigarettes deliver nicotine, which is addictive, and questions remain about the long-term effects of inhaling flavourings and other ingredients. Experts are careful to hold both ideas at once: better than cigarettes for a smoker, but not something a non-smoker should take up.

The youth dimension complicates the message further. Health officials want to encourage adult smokers to switch while discouraging teenagers from starting, and those two goals can pull public messaging in opposite directions. Efforts to curb youth vaping, including restrictions on marketing and flavours, sit alongside the aim of keeping vapes available as a quitting aid for adults.

For an individual smoker, the practical guidance from health bodies has been consistent. The best thing for health is to stop using both cigarettes and vapes, but for those who cannot stop smoking by other means, switching fully to vaping is presented as a less harmful step, ideally with support from stop-smoking services.

Experts also stress that partial switching offers limited benefit. Someone who vapes but continues to smoke, sometimes called a dual user, does not gain the same reduction in exposure, because they are still inhaling cigarette smoke. The intended path is a complete move away from tobacco, not the addition of a second habit.

The broader lesson from the survey is about communication as much as chemistry. Accurately conveying that one product is less harmful than another, without implying it is safe or encouraging non-smokers to try it, is a genuine challenge. Getting that balance right, experts suggest, matters not just for public understanding but for whether people make the choices that could improve their health.