More people are now vaping than smoking, as the demand for e-cigarettes rises
A local vape shop says it is seeing rising demand
A vape shop has said it is seeing rising demand as more people switch to e-cigarettes, because it is cheaper and thought to be less harmful than smoking.
It comes as new research shows that for the first time, more people are vaping than smoking, with approximately 5.4 million adults aged 16 and over are using e-cigarettes, compared to 4.9 million who smoke.
Callum Savill, Manager of Vaping not Smoking in Bicester, Dunstable and Milton Keynes said: “I would say that vaping is the lesser of two evils on a double-edged sword when it comes to being better than smoking.
“I would advocate for it being better, mostly because there’s less harmful chemicals that are involved. Even if you vaped a whole bottle of juice in a day, you're still getting less harmful chemicals in your system than you would with cigarettes.”
“There's been an influx in the number of people coming to the shop due to the fact that people are realising that, at present, it's definitely cheaper and more cost effective”, he adds.
Findings from Action on Smoking and Health also show that 1 in 5 children aged 11-17 have now tried vapes.
Mr Savill says, “one thing that does disgust me is when I see children in school uniform, definitely clearly underage, who’ve literally got a vape in their hand and they're vaping”.
He also that the shops strictly ID everyone who looks under the age of 25, as part of the Challenge 25 process.
However, he says “the problem is sometimes they might ask their parent to come in and they get it”.
“I do think it's a really tough battle trying to prevent minors from getting vapes.
“We also can't control what other shops are doing, and that's where it becomes a significant issue.”