Vaping’s health advantages over smoking are well known. However, there are several other personal and societal vaping benefits too. As we settle into 2023, let’s examine how vaping helps individuals and society.
It’s well-established that vaping is 95% safer than smoking cigarettes. Cigarettes contain tar and carbon monoxide, alongside a whole host of other toxic chemicals. While vaping isn’t entirely safe, it’s much kinder to your body.
Even after switching to vaping for a month, people see a significant improvement in their breathing, lung health, blood pressure, and immune function.
The other significant benefit of vaping is that it saves money. As the cost of living crisis continues and food inflation stands at 13.3%, UK citizens need to find ways to save money however they can.
Some estimates suggest switching from cigarettes to safer alternatives can save up to £2800 per year. The average UK rent is about £1,200, with a typical mortgage of around £800. Giving up smoking could cover two rent or three mortgage payments with £400 left over for two cinema tickets and popcorn!
Vaping gives governments a harm-reduction option that works. While gum, patches, and other harm-reduction alternatives are good, research shows that vaping is the most effective way to stop smoking.
Having a solid option that works means governments and health bodies can take a more sophisticated approach to help adults stop smoking. Instead of pretending that cold turkey abstinence works, they can offer effective interventions and recommendations.
The NHS is creaking under the pressure of a large and ageing population. Wait times are high, A&Es are packed, and bed shortages are common. Considering all the health problems that smoking causes, it should be a cause of celebration that there are 4 million UK vapers.
A healthier society means less reliance on the NHS overall. It’s no wonder that the government is encouraging sensible policies around vaping.
Even if you’ve never smoked, you probably have friends and family who do. If they give up, they’ll live longer and healthier lives. That means more nice memories and meaningful occasions that you can share.
We all have a few people who we’ve lost through smoking-related illness. If they had effective alternatives, their quality of life could have been better, and they could still be with us. Anything that makes that possible is worth considering.
The vaping industry contributes over 8,000 full-time equivalent jobs to the UK economy. These jobs include manufacturing, retail, marketing, warehousing, and more.
Vaping is still a relatively young industry in the UK, but it contributed more than £300 million to the Exchequer in 2021. With the country under pressure to pay off the COVID bill and energy subsidies, every little helps.
It’s almost unthinkable that a UK entrepreneur would start a tobacco business. Negotiating with farmers around the globe, setting up a factory, and dealing with importers and regulations would be a monumental task.
However, vaping is far more friendly to small businesses. While many big UK companies mass-produce items, vaping has also seen the birth of small boutique e-liquid manufacturers.
While vaping might get a hard time in the press, it provides many individual, social, and economic benefits. From saving lives, creating jobs, and opening up entrepreneurial pathways for the next generation of business people, vaping plays a part in a healthier, cleaner, and fairer future for the UK. Get involved and get the word out.