One million adults in England now vape despite never being regular smokers, a new health study suggests, as calls are heightened for tougher regulations on packaging and flavours.
Before 2021, the proportion of not regular smokers who vaped in England was low, at an average of 0.5 per cent between 2016 and 2020, the findings published in Lancet Public Health showed.
But that rate increased to 3.5 per cent by April 2024, equating to about a million vapers.
One in seven 18 to 24-year-olds who never regularly smoked now using e-cigarettes, the study suggests.
Although, despite an overall increase in people vaping since 2021, the researchers found the rise had levelled off since early 2023.
Experts say that banning disposable vapes, as the UK Government currently plans, is not likely to fix the problem as some brands have already launched reusable products.
Instead, they suggest, there should be stricter regulation around making the products look less appealing.
Senior author Professor Jamie Brown, of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, said: “These findings are a reminder that action is required to try to minimise vaping among young people who have never previously smoked.
“However, a balancing act is required to avoid deterring smokers from using e-cigarettes to quit.
“Banning disposables, as the UK Government currently plans, is unlikely to fix the issue as popular brands have already launched reusable products with very similar designs and prices.
“A sensible next step would be to introduce stricter regulation around product appearance, packaging and marketing, as those are less likely to reduce the effectiveness of e-cigarettes for smoking cessation – unlike, for instance, flavour bans.
“The fact that overall vaping prevalence appears to have levelled off since 2023 may reassure policymakers that it would be reasonable to begin with these measures and assess their impact.”
In the King’s Speech in July, ministers promised to table a Tobacco and Vapes Bill to progressively increase the age at which people can buy cigarettes, similar to a Bill of the same name tabled by the previous Conservative administration earlier this year – to ban shopkeepers from selling cigarettes to anybody born in 2009 or later.
The study looked at survey data collected between 2016 and 2024 from 153,073 adults (18 and over) in England, of whom 94,107 had never regularly smoked tobacco.
It also found that the sharpest increase in the never-regular-smokers group was among those classed as the heaviest drinkers (of all ages), of whom 22 per cent vaped.
This is compared with 3 per cent and 1.3 per cent among those drinking alcohol at low-risk levels or not at all.
Because smoking rates are higher among people who drink more heavily, this suggests vaping may be more common among people who would otherwise have gone on to smoke, the researchers say.
The researchers also found that in recent years people who had never regularly smoked tended to be younger, more were women, and more were drinking at increasing or higher-risk levels.
They also tended to have been vaping for longer, were more likely to use disposable devices and the highest-strength nicotine e-liquids, and to buy their products from supermarkets/convenience stores.
Lead author Dr Sarah Jackson, of the UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care, said: “The public health impact of this substantial rise in vaping among people who have never regularly smoked will depend on what these people would otherwise be doing.
“It is likely that some would have smoked if vaping were not an available option. In this case, vaping is clearly less harmful. However, for those who would not have gone on to smoke, vaping regularly over a sustained period poses more risk than not vaping.”