As MPs deliberate on the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, a study released this week by the University of Cape Town reveals that more than one in 10 (11.3%) of urban adults have tried e-cigarettes and 4% are regular users.
Funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the UCT survey of 21 263 people between January and September 2022 found regular e-cigarette use was much higher among younger age groups, ranging from 7.7% of 18 to 24-year-olds to 6.8% of 25 to 35-year-olds, compared with 3.7% among respondents aged between 35 and 44 and just 1.5% among those older than 65. Vaping was considerably higher among men (5.4%) than women (2.6%), reports BusinessLIVE.
“Reports commissioned by the e-cigarette industry misrepresented the potential impact of restricting e-cigarette advertisements and promotions, primarily by significantly underestimating the prevalence of e-cigarette use in SA,” said Kirsten van der Zee, research officer at UCT’s Research Unit on the Economics of Excisable Products.
The survey found that one in five (19%) of the people who regularly vaped before regularly smoking cigarettes were “on-rampers” who were still smoking. One in eight (13%) who started vaping after regularly smoking cigarettes were “off-rampers” who had since quit cigarettes.
The results suggest that the arguments that e-cigarettes are a gateway to regular smoking or a means to quit regular smoking are nuanced, and further research is needed to explore why users start or quit smoking, said Van der Zee.
Additionally, people who used both e-cigarettes and smoked combustible cigarettes believed e-cigarettes were less addictive than combustible cigarettes, and that both had similar health risks.
Also released this week was new data from the National Council Against Smoking (NCAS) from an ongoing study of the use of tobacco and related products in SA, which found only 27% of young adults who vape said they started using the products to try to kick a smoking habit.
The findings directly challenge the vaping industry’s argument that e-cigarettes are a crucial aid for smokers wanting to quit, as almost three-quarters of the young people who vape have taken up the habit for other reasons, said NCAS executive director Lekan Ayo-Yusuf.
The online survey of more than 6 000 people in 2021 included 800 e-cigarette users who spent R250 a month on average on these products, Ayo-Yusuf said.
Reasons for vaping from 18-25-year-olds were in contrast to those cited by older users, 75% of whom said they started using e-cigarettes to try to quit smoking, he said.
Sales of fruit and candy flavoured e-cigarettes increased “exponentially” after the coronavirus pandemic, he said.
In the meantime, the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill, which proposes tightening current anti-smoking laws and regulating e-cigarettes, is expected to be a highly contested issue.
It recommends greater restrictions on smoking in public places, plain packaging and picture warnings, the ban of vending machine sales; prohibits point-of-sale advertising and, for the first time, regulates e-cigarettes and other new-generation products in the same way as tobacco.
It also would enable the Health Minister to limit or completely prohibit flavours, which public health advocates say are a tool used by the industry to attract younger customers.
In Britain this week, where selling vaping products to under-18s is illegal, the government said it would close a loophole allowing retailers to dish out free samples of vapes to children.
"I am deeply concerned about the sharp rise in kids vaping and shocked by reports of illicit vapes containing lead getting into the hands of school children," said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in a statement.
“It is completely unacceptable.”
The statement cited a 2023 survey by public health charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) of 11-17 year olds, in which two out of five young people said they smoke vapes just to try it, while one in five said they do it due to peer pressure, reports Reuters.
e-cig survey
Reuters article – Britain takes steps to clamp down on teen vaping (Open access)
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Vaping among teens at SA’s affluent schools ‘a significant problem’
Vaping industry exploits SA’s policy gap, enticing more to young people to smoke
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Health Department defends Tobacco Bill
SA Tobacco Bill approved by Cabinet