E-cigarettes an evidence update A report commissioned by Public Health England

E-cigarettes: an evidence updateThe ASH survey indicates that about 60% of current EC users are current smokers, andabout 40% are ex-smokers. The proportion of EC users among never smokers remainsnegligible.SummaryAround one in 20 of the general adult population in England (and GB) use EC. CurrentEC users are almost exclusively smokers or ex-smokers. EC use among long-term exsmokersis considerably lower than among recent ex-smokers.Trends in e-cigarette use among adultsBoth the STS and ASH surveys demonstrate that there was a steady increase in ECuse in the population from 2011 to 2013.Smoking Toolkit Study (STS) dataThe STS data indicate that this increase slowed down, even declining at the end of2014 from 5.3% in Q3 to 4.5% in Q4 (Figure 1). However, as Q1 data from 2015 show arecent upswing to 5.5%, this decline may have been temporary. The STS data showthat alongside the increase in EC use, smoking of tobacco cigarettes declined. Overallnicotine use, ie any consumption via cigarette smoking, NRT use or EC use, has alsodeclined.Figure 1: Prevalence of smoking and e-cigarette use among the adult English population(STS)From www.smokinginengland.info/latest-statistics/28