One of the arguments that those determined to fight against e-cigarettes often use to scaremonger the general public is that its popularity could lead to more people taking up smoking. Well, that argument’s just had a whole load of holes blown through it by, of all organisations, the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

Ignoring for a moment those incapable of telling the difference between a cigarette and an electronic cigarette (yes, pub chain JD Wetherspoon did use this as their reasoning for banning vaping in their establishments!), the general public’s view, according to the ONS, is that e-cigarettes are a quitting tool for smokers.

Smoking stats show that from 46% of the UK population in ’74 to just 19% last year, fewer and fewer people are smoking. Better than that, more people than ever have never smoked – rising from 38% to 58% in the same time period – and more than ever are quitting – rising from 28% to 54% of the population. What all this means is that the argument that e-cigarettes, enjoyed by over two million people in the UK today, encourage others to start smoking is complete hokum, nonsense, absolute guff!

The ONS found that e-cigarettes were almost exclusively used by smokers and those who have now quit smoking. Just 0.14% of vapers had never smoked before.

Dr Penny Woods, Chief Executive of the British Lung Foundation, said: “This data should again alleviate the fears expressed by some over an e-cigarette gateway effect – people trying e-cigarettes before moving on to the much more harmful practice of smoking.”

As the arguments against e-cigarettes, especially those purchased from reputable retailers such as us, fall by the wayside, their popularity is only set to rise. Now we just have to wait for the rest of the medical fraternity to see sense for these wonderful quitting aids to become more widely available. After all, shouldn’t we be trying our hardest to prevent as many of the 80,000 deaths in England each year that are related to diseases directly caused by smoking?