Vapers and vaping: E-cigarettes users views of vaping and smoking

The use of electronic cigarettes has increased markedly in recent years, however, as the popularity of e-cigarettes has increased, so has the controversy associated with their use. In this paper we report the views of a small sample of e-cigarette users focussing on the circumstances in which individuals began vaping, their reasons for continuing vaping, their perceptions of the relative harm of vaping compared to smoking, and their views as to whether their use of e-cigarettes had increased their likelihood of smoking. In total we interviewed 50 vapers aged between 16 and 26. Typically, vapers explained their continued use of e-cigarettes in terms of the reduced harm compared to smoking, the lack of an offensive smell, the appeal of different flavours, the greater range of settings in which e-cigarettes could be used, and the reduced stigma associated with their use. The sample of interviewees were evenly split with regard to the perceived justification (or not) for banning vaping in public. Finally, we make the case that it is important to base policy and regulation of e-cigarettes on both robust epidemiological data on the impact of these devices as well as more qualitative, ethnographic, information from users themselves.