42% Have Been Smoking Cigarettes for Less than Six Months

Vaping or e-cigarettes has exploded in popularity since the early 2000s. The product has been marketed as a “healthier” alternative to traditional tobacco-based products. However, health experts have eventually turned against this sentiment in later years.

Most people still continue to use vapes as they believe it poses far fewer health risks than smoking, despite the evidence that vapes contain the same chemicals as tobacco cigarettes. It’s also observed that vaping can just as well cause lung disease, just as smoking cigarettes.

People commonly vape to gradually wean off their habit of smoking cigarettes. However, ironically, these people are also likely to become addicted to vaping as a result. It has been observed that teens and young adults prefer vaping as well, as it looks more appealing and has less of an odor.

Consequently, smokers now alternate between smoking cigarettes and vaping; some even do both at the same time.

For this reason, Real Research, an online survey app, aimed to gauge the public’s opinion by releasing a survey on cigarette smoking and vaping behavior.

¼ of Respondents Are Trying To Quit Smoking

To assess the smoking and vaping behavior, we began the survey by asking respondents whether they smoke. 27.72% smoked rarely, 25.95% smoked occasionally, 24% tried to quit, and 22% were avid smokers. Notably, there were no non-smokers among the respondents.

The survey on cigarette smoking and vaping behavior and preferences further highlights the following:

• 38.31% said smoking cigarettes were less harmful than vaping
• 13.47% started vaping to gradually quit smoking cigarettes
• 37.56% have found nicotine replacement therapy/products helpful

Read Also: 70% of Smokers Tried to Stop, Mainly Due to Physical Reasons

Almost Half Consume Both Cigarettes and Vape Products

Following that, we asked whether respondents used vapes or e-cigarettes, or knew somebody who did. 39.45% do vape, 31.64% know somebody who vapes, 16.11% do not vape, and 7.46% do not know anyone who vapes.

Accordingly, as part of assessing smoking and vaping behavior, we asked respondents whether they consumed both cigarettes and vapes at the same time. 46.42% consumed both cigarettes and vapes, 35.36% only consumed cigarettes, and 18.22% only consumed vapes.

Read Also: 50.76% Started Smoking in Their 20s

Less Than A Quarter of Respondents Don’t Vape At All

We asked respondents how long they smoked cigarettes. 42.37% have been smoking for less than six months, 25.68% for six months to three years, 14.65% for three to seven years, and 5.36% for seven to ten years.

Similarly, we asked respondents how long they’ve been vaping. 32.32% have been vaping for less than six months, 18.67% for one to two years, 18.66% for six months to one year, and 17.13% don’t vape at all.

For the respondents who vape, we asked why they started doing so. 13.47% started vaping to gradually quit their smoking habit, 12.75% use vapes as a healthier alternative to consuming nicotine, 12.12% vape whenever they’re unable to use tobacco products, 10.69% simply want to try something new, and 10.09% enjoy the various flavors.

Over Half Have Used Nicotine Patches As Replacement Therapy

We then asked respondents whether they’ve used nicotine replacement therapy/products. 37.56% have, and have found them helpful; 26.41% have not used them; 25.62% have, but did not find them helpful; and 10.41% have not, but plan to use them in the future.

Additionally, we asked which nicotine replacement therapy/products they have used. 51.44% used Nicotine patches, 31.20% used Nicotine chewing gums, and 9.29% used Nicotine nasal spray.

We finally asked respondents for their opinion on which was less harmful: smoking cigarettes or vaping. 38.31% said smoking cigarettes were less harmful, 26.33% said both were equally harmful, and 21.87% said vaping was more harmful.