“Vape, Don’t Smoke” is the call from firefighters who know all too well the damage that smoking can cause. You will hear a lot about how medical professionals prefer vaping over smoking and how Public Health England officially claim vaping is 95% less harmful than smoking, or at least 95% less harmful. We look at vaping with new eyes, the eyes of the London Fire Brigade.

What’s the Difference?

Before we look at the London Fire Brigade’s take on smoking and vaping we wanted to quickly explain once more what the difference between using an e cigarette and smoking a tobacco cigarette is.

A tobacco cigarette contains tobacco and a long list of chemicals. Many of these chemicals have been classified as being toxic by the World Health Organisation, and as having the potential to cause cancer. A cigarette is combustible which means that you must light it and burn the contents in order to produce a smoke that may then be inhaled and exhaled. Tobacco cigarettes also contain nicotine. The nicotine level in cigarettes is usually static unless you choose a slightly lower nicotine level by opting for the “light” version of a brand of cigarettes.

An e cigarette is a device powered by a lithium battery which heats flavoured e liquid to produce a flavoured vapour that may be inhaled and exhaled. E liquids are made up of non-toxic and safe ingredients with a base liquid made up of a combination of propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin, flavourings and nicotine. E liquids come with varying nicotine levels and even zero nicotine e liquids.

Vape Don’t Smoke For Safety

The London Fire Brigade has released information showing that you are over two hundred and sixty times more likely to be in or cause a fire if you are smoker rather than a vaper. That’s one heck of a statistic! At the time of these stats being released (October 2018) the London Fire Brigade (LFB) reported that since 2014 there have been over six thousand fires started by cigarettes and/or via smoking-related items such as cigarettes and the matches uses to light them. LFB also reported that within the same time frame only twenty two fires were caused by e cigarettes. This is quite the difference.

With cigarette smoking being the top cause of fire-related deaths and being in the top three of the ways all non-deliberate fires at home have been caused it is clear why the London Fire Brigade are keen to see smokers “vape don’t smoke” rather than continue to put themselves and others at risk. The instances of cigarette-related fires were higher than the norm over 2017 which means that the numbers are not decreasing or at least not decreasing fast enough to stop the damage to health, life and property that smoking clearly risks.

Vape Don’t Smoke: In Conclusion

We understand that giving up smoking is not easy, despite many people wanting to quit due to concerns about their health. Even those who are keen to drop tobacco cigarettes for good could find themselves struggling. Giving up smoking is not just a case of getting over nicotine cravings, far from it. There is much more to smoking addiction and yet the fact remains that for health reasons and of course safety, giving up smoking completely is the best answer and one recommended by many. This is where vaping comes in.

Switching to vaping helps ex-smokers replace much of what they would have missed out on if giving up cold turkey. Smoking can be relaxing and help to destress people. Vaping offers the same. Smokers struggle to give up the physical habits of smoking, i.e. the inhale/exhale, social aspect and more. All of these are easily replicated with vaping which is what makes using cheap e liquids and e cigarette devices a wise choice and often the most successful method for those wanting to stop tobacco smoking for good.

“Vape don’t smoke” seems to be great advice from the London Fire Brigade when you consider the harm that smoking causes via fires as well as from smoking itself.

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