Smoking vs vaping: the debate continues, and experts offer ways to reduce health damage
- Vaping is either a tool for quitting smoking that does less damage than cigarettes, or just another harmful tobacco product depending on your standpoint
- The Hong Kong government proposes banning the sale or promotion of e-cigarettes and products
Christopher Tam turned to a new smoking device because he is trying to cut down on cigarettes and says he quickly discovered other benefits that came with the lifestyle change.
“I didn’t smell any more and I didn’t have a sore throat the next day,” says the marketing manager. “But it also cut down immediately on how much I smoke – I found just a few puffs and that was me, done.”
The refrain is familiar among Hong Kong’s nascent vaping community, one that isn’t being given much of a voice while Hong Kong’s leaders decide the future of these new devices.
The use of new smoking products has exploded in the United States – with a 2018 report in the Annals of Internal Medicine claiming that 10.8 million Americans have turned to the new technology – but there has been a less dramatic rise in their use in Hong Kong.
The government estimates there are around 640,000 smokers in the city, while a government survey released in 2017 put the figure of those who vape daily at 5,700. That number is sure to have risen significantly in the years since, given evidence in other markets, but the Legislative Council is poised to pass legislation that is likely to curtail further expansion.