Over the Next 30 Years, Vapes Replacing Traditional Cigarettes Could Save 1 Billion Lives

HONG KONG, Aug. 25 (China News Service) — In April this year, a report by the Royal College of Physicians in the UK stated that e-cigarettes are at least 95% safer than traditional cigarettes. More recently, a research report from the U.S. think tank Reason Foundation said that e-cigarettes will gradually replace conventional cigarettes over the next 20 to 30 years, potentially saving nearly 1 billion lives — more than half the population of Asia.

In recent years, the Hong Kong SAR government has achieved visible results in regulating traditional cigarettes. According to 2015 data from the Census and Statistics Department, the daily smoking rate among people aged 15 and above fell to 10.5%, equivalent to about 640,000 people, the lowest level since records began in 1982. However, the rise of e-cigarettes in Hong Kong has also triggered calls for a complete “ban” on e-cigarettes.

Previous reports said several primary school students, including a six-year-old girl, were found using e-cigarettes at Lai On Estate Park in Sham Shui Po, drawing public attention. Under Secretary for Food and Health Professor Sophia Chan said that e-cigarettes are mainly marketed toward young people, and expressed concern that their growing popularity could lead more teenagers to become smokers.

Julian Morris, vice president of research at the Reason Foundation, said e-cigarettes are relatively safe and healthier. He even noted that the emergence of e-cigarettes has coincided with a decline in youth smoking. But regarding reports of children in Hong Kong using e-cigarettes, Morris said, “This is not a good thing.” He said he had never seen or heard of a six-year-old using e-cigarettes anywhere else. “I strongly discourage this behavior. Parents should properly supervise their children. Don’t let something that could be beneficial create negative consequences.”

Morris believes that regulation and management of e-cigarettes should not be excessive, as overregulation would raise costs, reduce consumer choice, and undermine healthy competition and innovation. In Hong Kong, e-cigarette regulation should focus more on oversight of the production process and product quality in order to improve product integrity and reliability. He added that Hong Kong can learn from regulatory measures in other countries, but it also needs a management framework suited to local needs.

He concluded that, as long as e-cigarettes are properly regulated, they will gradually replace traditional cigarettes and could save and improve hundreds of millions of lives in Asia alone.

(Original title: E-cigarettes May Replace Traditional Cigarettes Over the Next 30 Years, Saving 1 Billion Lives)