There's been plenty of scientific debate about whether vaping is safer than tobacco, and whether it may help some people stop smoking.
According to a recent Cochrane Review analysis of 78 studies, electronic cigarettes show more success in helping people quit smoking than traditional nicotine-replacement therapies, such as nicotine patches and gums.
"The most important finding from our recent review update is that for the first time there is high certainty evidence that nicotine e-cigarettes are more effective than traditional nicotine-replacement therapies, such as patches, gum or lozenges, in helping people to quit smoking," said study co-author Ailsa Butler. She is a postdoctoral researcher from the University of Oxford's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, in the United Kingdom.
The NIDA points out that the current evidence shows that vaping may indeed be "less harmful" than smoking traditional cigarettes.
"All the evidence we present points to nicotine [electronic cigarettes] and non-nicotine [electronic cigarettes] being less harmful than combustible cigarettes," Butler said. "However, due to the lack of long-term evidence, we cannot comment on the safety of e-cigarettes used for longer than two years."
Garfield said that, "for the adult smoker, there's probably some utility in switching" to e-cigarettes.
American Lung Association spokesperson Dr. Jamie Garfield said of vaping versus smoking,
"A cigarette is nicotine and tar, and it is combusted and burned. We know from lots of data on cigarette smoke that they're injurious to every organ. Tobacco is the #1 preventable cause of death in the United States. E-cigarettes don't have the same pattern of injury. They're not safe - but are they safer? Maybe. We can't really make statements about these products' safety because we have no real clarity about what's inside them."
The final verdict on whether vaping is safer than smoking? Vaping may be less harmful than smoking traditional cigarettes and may help you quit smoking, especially when you combine it with other smoking-cessation therapies and medications. Note that this applies only to adults, not adolescents.
SOURCES: Ailsa Butler, postdoctoral researcher, University of Oxford's Centre for Evidence-Based Medicine, United Kingdom; Jamie Garfield, MD, spokesperson, American Lung Association