Vapes or e-cigarettes as way to 'quit' smoking: 'It's just exchanging one vice for another'

The discussion around vaping or using e-cigarettes usually comes down to the question of whether this is less harmful than smoking conventional cigarettes.

It's an important question says Dr Erica Shaddock, because this relatively new industry has been very good at 'picking up the holes' in the data that is being put out there.

The issue comes under the spotlight on the Afternoon Drive's 'In Conversation with the Dis-Chem Foundation' feature.

Dr Shaddock, a pulmonologist at Charlotte Maxeke Hospital, puts the evolution of the e-cigarette or vaping industry into perspective.

"This industry came to market without any previous research done. They were initially selling themselves as an entertainment product and then came along on the back and said 'oh, you can also smoke less when you use this product and it's much less harmful than cigarettes'."

"Coming to market... without coming to you directly as a drug, they were able to make random statements without very good research."

Dr Erica Shaddock, Pulmonologist - Charlotte Maxeke Hospital

As a result, the medical professionals were caught very much on the backfoot when this all started, Dr Shaddock says.

"We didn't have all those answers, so they were able to say things like 'less harmful'."

Dr Erica Shaddock, Pulmonologist - Charlotte Maxeke Hospital

She says the piece of information that's probably been shared the most is the concept of this practice being '95% less harmful' than conventional cigarettes.

Dr Shaddock sketches the background to this statement, where she says 12 people from various different medical fields sat around a table and asked each other whether they THOUGHT e-cigarettes were less harmful, according to a number of questions.

There was not a stitch of data behind that 95% statement, she emphasizes.

"There's no timeline here - these products have only been around ten or fifteen years now. It's only now that we've been able to collect the data that is going to suggest to us where the problems are. And what we DO know now is that this is a product that is harmful."

Dr Erica Shaddock, Pulmonologist - Charlotte Maxeke Hospital

What about the claim that vaping or smoking e-cigarettes will help you quit smoking?

Dr Shaddock also puts this assertion into perspective, according to the studies that have been done.

"The studies have shown that when we do compare two groups of people, those that use e-cigarettes and those who don't, the people who use e-cigarettes are able - for a small percentage - to quit more than people who do not use anything."

"But what those studies and headlines forget to tell everybody is that, at the end of those studies, the vapers are still using nicotine - they've just exchanged one vice for another...

"So, yes, they're not smoking conventional cigarettes any more, or less so than those who don't vape, but they are still using e-cigarettes and vaping, so they've just switched."

Dr Erica Shaddock, Pulmonologist - Charlotte Maxeke Hospital