More than half of Britain’s smokers now believe vaping is as harmful as smoking — or even more harmful.
Read that again.
Fresh figures from Action on Smoking and Health show that 52% of current smokers now have the relative risk completely wrong.
Among smokers who have never tried vaping, the figure rises to an astonishing 61%.
And it does not end there.
Almost two-thirds — 62% — of young people aged 11 to 17 believe vaping is equally or more harmful than smoking.
This is not a minor communications problem.
It is a full-blown public health crisis.
The people who could benefit most from switching away from cigarettes are increasingly being convinced there is no point doing so.
Meanwhile, Government proposals to make vapes look, feel and live like tobacco products risk making that confusion even worse.
The Numbers Should Be Setting Off Alarm Bells
ASH’s 2026 adult survey questioned more than 13,000 people across Great Britain.
It found that 54% of all adults believe vaping is as harmful as smoking or more harmful.
Among current smokers, the figure is 52%.
Only 29% of smokers correctly recognise that vaping is less harmful than smoking.
| Adult Smokers 18+ 52% believe vaping is as harmful as smoking or more harmful |
Young People Aged 11–17 62% believe vaping is as harmful as smoking or more harmful |
Source: ASH Adult and Youth Smokefree GB Surveys, 2026
These beliefs have real consequences.
Smokers who understand that vaping is less harmful are far more willing to try a vape supplied by a health professional.
Among smokers who correctly recognise the lower risk, 52% said they would be interested in trying one.
That falls to 37% among those who think vaping and smoking are equally harmful, and just 29% among those who believe vaping is worse.
In other words, misinformation is actively discouraging smokers from trying an alternative to cigarettes.
It gets more ridiculous.
ASH found that among people who had tried to stop vaping, one in three who believed vaping was more harmful than smoking had used cigarettes as a quitting method.
They attempted to reduce their risk by going back to smoking.
You really could not design a more backwards public health outcome.
The Science Has Not Suddenly Changed
The evidence has not performed some dramatic U-turn. Smoking is exceptionally harmful because tobacco is burned.
Combustion creates tar, carbon monoxide and thousands of chemicals, including numerous known carcinogens.
Vaping does not burn tobacco.
That does not make vaping harmless. Children should not vape. Non-smokers should not start. Research into long-term effects must continue.
But “not harmless” does not mean “as harmful as smoking”.
The NHS continues to state clearly that nicotine vaping is less harmful than smoking and is one of the most effective tools available for quitting.
The message should be simple:
- If you do not smoke, do not vape.
- If you are under 18, vaping is not for you.
- If you smoke, switching completely to a regulated vape is far less harmful than continuing to smoke.
Three honest statements.
No hysteria.
No pretending vaping is completely safe.
And no pretending cigarettes and vapes belong in the same risk category.
When Vapes Are Treated Like Cigarettes
So why is the public getting it so badly wrong?
Years of sensational headlines, badly explained studies and political grandstanding have undoubtedly played a part.
Every alarming vaping claim receives blanket coverage. Every correction arrives quietly several days later buried 5 pages deep — that’s assuming it arrives at all.
Now the Government risks pouring petrol on the fire.
As EcigClick recently explained in our guide to the UK vape packaging, appearance and display consultation, ministers are considering plain white packaging, severe branding restrictions, limited device colours, simplified flavour descriptions and keeping vapes out of sight in shops.
These are currently proposals, not rules already in force. However, policies send messages long before they become law.
If vapes are hidden behind the same screens as cigarettes, stripped of their identity and subjected to similar retail controls, what conclusion will the average smoker draw?
That they must present similar risks.
Same shutters.
Same shame.
Same danger.
We warned about this problem when asking whether the Tobacco and Vapes Bill could drive vapers back to smoking.
The latest ASH figures suggest that the damage is no longer theoretical.
Protecting Children Does Not Require Misleading Adults
Let us deal with the predictable response.
Yes, youth vaping should be taken seriously.
Retailers selling nicotine products to children should face meaningful penalties. Illegal traders should be shut down. Products deliberately designed to resemble toys or appeal to very young customers should be removed.
But none of that requires misleading millions of adult smokers. In fact, exaggerating the risk of vaping could create another serious problem. ASH found that in 2013, 73% of young people correctly recognised vaping as less harmful than smoking.
By 2026, that had collapsed to just 26%.
Over the same period, the proportion believing vaping was equally or more harmful than smoking climbed from 13% to 62%.
Yet believing vaping is as dangerous as smoking does not appear to stop experimentation. More than half of young people who have tried vaping still hold that belief.
The scare message is not even achieving its supposed purpose.
Instead, it flattens the risk difference and makes cigarettes appear less uniquely dangerous.
Young people deserve accurate information too. Smoking is vastly more harmful. Vaping carries risks and is not intended for them.
Both statements can be true.
Illegal Sellers Will Carry On Regardless
There is another glaring problem.
Responsible manufacturers and retailers will follow tighter packaging and display rules.
Illegal sellers will not.
They will continue supplying oversized, brightly packaged and non-compliant products through rogue shops, social media and messaging apps.
As covered in our recent investigation into the UK illegal vape market and falling Trading Standards inspections, enforcement is already struggling to keep pace.
The legal market becomes less visible and harder for adult smokers to navigate.
The illegal market carries on as normal.
That is what happens when regulation focuses more heavily on the appearance of legal products than on criminals ignoring the existing rules.
Ecigclick View
This is a public health disaster hiding behind a regulatory agenda.
When most smokers believe vaping is as harmful as smoking, something has gone badly wrong.
These are people who could substantially reduce their exposure to harmful chemicals by switching completely away from cigarettes.
Instead, they are being fed a fog of confused warnings, tobacco-style restrictions and media scare stories.
The Government cannot claim to support vaping as a stop-smoking tool while making it look, feel and function like another cigarette product.
- Punish illegal sellers
- Protect children
- Enforce age restrictions properly
- Stop irresponsible marketing
But do not erase the difference between smoking and vaping.
Because when smokers no longer see a meaningful reason to switch, many will stick with the product they already know.
Cigarettes.
And once again, smoking wins.
Sources
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- Action on Smoking and Health — Use of vapes among adults in Great Britain, 2026
- Action on Smoking and Health — Use of vapes among young people in Great Britain, 2026
- The Guardian — Majority of UK smokers wrongly believe vaping is as harmful as cigarettes, 5 July 2026
- NHS Better Health — Vaping to quit smoking
- UK Government — Tobacco and vapes: packaging, appearance and display consultation
- New Nicotine Alliance — Government risks driving smokers away from lifesaving alternatives
- JAMA Network Open — Trends in harm perceptions of e-cigarettes compared with combustible cigarettes
