New Debate on the Pros and Cons of E-Cigarettes: 95% Less Harmful Than Tobacco

A UK Department of Health agency released a research report on the 19th stating that e-cigarettes are 95% less harmful than conventional tobacco and are a “powerful tool” for smokers trying to quit. The study found that e-cigarettes contain very few of the disease-causing substances found in traditional tobacco, though they are not completely harmless. Compared with conventional tobacco products, however, they are less harmful.

That said, debate over the pros and cons of e-cigarettes has never stopped. In 2014, the World Health Organization issued a report stating that e-cigarettes should be strictly regulated, that indoor vaping should be prohibited, and that sales of e-cigarettes to minors should be banned. Japanese researchers have also pointed out that the liquid vapor from multiple e-cigarette samples contained carcinogens, and that the harm to the human body was no less than that of conventional cigarettes, or could even be greater.

So far, health organizations have remained cautious about promoting e-cigarettes and about whether they are healthier than conventional tobacco. The governments of California in the United States and India have both attempted to introduce laws to strictly regulate the use of e-cigarettes.