Demonising vaping is prompting young people to switch to tobacco as mixed messaging suggests they are equally as dangerous, experts warn

Scare stories and misinformation about the harms of vaping could be triggering a rise in young people smoking, experts have warned.

Last week a report revealed that a decades-long decline in the number of smokers in England had flatlined since the Covid pandemic. Researchers suggested this was likely due to more young people starting to smoke.

Deborah Arnott, chief executive of Action on Smoking and Health told this newspaper that she believes misinformation about the dangers of vapes is partly to blame. ‘All the negative press around vaping hasn’t helped,’ she said. ‘Suggestions that vapes need to be in plain packaging, branded with health warnings and kept out of sight, like tobacco, just give the impression that both are equally harmful when that’s not the case.’

In October, Shadow Health Secretary Wes Streeting said a Labour Government would ban the commercial sale of vapes, making the products prescription-only. He cited the need to stop a ‘generation of children’ becoming addicted to nicotine. The plans mirror those of Australia where vapes are only available on prescription.

Dr Sarah Jackson, a behavioural science expert at University College London and lead author of the latest report into UK smoking figures, also said that ‘inaccurate’ media headlines about the risks of vaping were a possible reason why more young people were taking up smoking. ‘People now think that vaping is more harmful than smoking, which is wrong,’ she said

Research suggests one in five UK children in 2023 have tried a vape, a 30 per cent increase on last year. But experts say demonising vaping is likely to increase the number of smokers, not reduce it.

‘In Australia, where you need a prescription for vapes, they’ve seen smoking rates going up because it’s just easier to get hold of cigarettes,’ says Ms Arnott.

Dr Sarah Jackson, a behavioural science expert at University College London and lead author of the latest report into UK smoking figures, also said that ‘inaccurate’ media headlines about the risks of vaping were a possible reason why more young people were taking up smoking. ‘People now think that vaping is more harmful than smoking, which is wrong,’ she said.

Last year, a King’s College London report found that vaping poses a ‘small fraction of the health risks of smoking’ in the short-to-medium term.

‘There are some toxic chemicals present in vapes which have been linked to long-term health problems but the level is significantly lower than in cigarettes,’ says Dr Jackson. ‘We don’t want people to needlessly take up vaping, but getting people who smoke to switch to vapes would improve the health of thousands.’