Expert: Smokers Relying on E-cigarettes to Quit Addiction Is Not Very Reliable

Nowadays, many smokers use e-cigarettes as a substitute for traditional cigarettes to help quit smoking. In an interview with a reporter from Shanxi Evening News, an expert from the smoking cessation clinic at Taiyuan People's Hospital stated that although e-cigarettes do not contain tar, their composition is quite complex, making it somewhat unreliable for smokers to depend on e-cigarettes to quit their addiction.
 
A search by Shanxi Evening News reporters on e-commerce platforms found many sellers of e-cigarettes, with prices ranging from dozens to hundreds of yuan. Currently, the market for e-cigarettes is divided into two categories: vapor e-cigarettes and low-temperature cigarettes, with vapor e-cigarettes being the main type in the domestic market.

A customer service representative from an e-cigarette store mentioned that there are three main types of customers who come to buy e-cigarettes: one is wives buying them for their smoking husbands in hopes of helping them quit; another is smokers themselves trying to quit by purchasing e-cigarettes; and the last is young people who enjoy trends and buy e-cigarettes for fun.

Investigations by Shanxi Evening News revealed that many brands of e-cigarettes have developed products with fruit flavors and large vapor clouds to attract customers. In recent years, several shopping malls in Taiyuan have opened physical stores for e-cigarettes. While many people consider e-cigarettes as a substitute for traditional cigarettes, there is controversy in the scientific community regarding their health risks.

In August 2018, the Beijing Smoking Control Association stated that the currently popular e-cigarettes also release harmful secondhand smoke and should be banned in public places, planning to push for e-cigarettes to be included in smoking control regulations. In October 2018, Hong Kong also announced a complete ban on the sale of e-cigarettes and other new tobacco products.

Experts from the smoking cessation clinic at Taiyuan People's Hospital told Shanxi Evening News that many people want to quit smoking but cannot stick to it, so they think of using e-cigarettes to help. Although e-cigarettes produce vapor electronically, they still contain nicotine, which can lead to increased dependency. The various e-cigarettes on the market vary in quality, making it difficult to distinguish between good and bad, and their harmfulness is hard to estimate, plus they do not effectively aid in quitting smoking.

Currently, nicotine replacement therapy using patches recommended by the World Health Organization is a safer and healthier method for smokers to quickly break free from their dependence on cigarettes.