The electronic or vaping cigarette may be an option chosen by the more than 125,000 registered for No Tobacco Month, the challenge launched each year in November by health authorities to help smokers quit smoking. But is vaping preferred in the long term?
To completely stop smoking, the Ministry of Health recommends first of all turning to a health professional and using nicotine substitutes, medical devices reimbursed by Social Security. “The currently available data are inconclusive regarding the effectiveness of vaping products as a smoking cessation tool compared to available validated treatments,” he recalls.
The risk of maintaining habituation to the gesture
The electronic cigarette or the puff, products sold freely, may however be preferred so as not to disrupt your habits too much. Instead of smoking a cigarette after lunch, the smoker vapes. A way to satisfy one’s psychological or emotional need to smoke.
The advantage of swapping cigarettes for electronic ones is to reduce exposure to many toxic and carcinogenic substances in tobacco smoke, such as carbon monoxide and “tars”. The nicotine contained in certain products can also help control withdrawal symptoms linked to physical dependence.
The disadvantage, on the other hand, is remaining psychologically dependent on it. “Maintaining the habit of the gesture is not very serious in itself, because it does not cause cancer,” underlines Olivier Smadja, tobacco specialist at Public Health France. On the other hand, the risk is more likely to resume smoking afterwards. »
“The health benefit is very low” in the event of mixed consumption
Vaping is considered less dangerous than tobacco, even if its long-term health effects are still insufficiently documented. “But to reduce the risks, you must be an exclusive vaper and completely stop smoking,” insists the tobacco specialist. Which is not always easy for smokers. There are a certain number of them who will have mixed consumption. »
For them, “the health benefit is very low, or almost zero,” explains Olivier Samdja, recalling that even one cigarette a day is dangerous.
In a cessation process, vaping products can be used by “specific smokers and/or vulnerable groups (due to co-addiction, comorbidities, social factors, etc.) with strong dependence on nicotine” , underlines the ministry, and in the event of failure or poor adherence to treatment. Their use must then be limited in time.
Vapor smokers are also advised to ensure that their products comply with regulations, in particular by checking that the nicotine level is less than 20 mg/ml and that the labeling includes safety information (warning notice , danger, precautionary advice).
