Geek Bars Make Smoking Quitters Better Than NRT

A. Preface

Both are now in question as the seventh independent report commissioned by Public Health England (PHE) on behalf of the People of the UK in their ongoing quest for improved facts about Geek Bar and nicotine vaping products has come of age, generating some fascinating trends and perceptions of the use of Geek Bars as an alternative to smoking. They are complicated by a field with answers E to Y testing for efficacy in phasing out smoking; this study adds even more E, F, H I (who knew?), public perceptions, and even effectiveness of smoking cessation aids. With the UK government aiming for a smoke-free country by 2030, understanding these dynamics will also be critical to informing future public health policies and interventions.

B. Key Findings

B.1 Popularity and Effectiveness of Vaping Products

Nicotine vaping products are the most commonly used smoking cessation products in the past 6 months over 2024 for smokers attempting to quit smoking in England (27-2). This is a sharp departure from previous years, when more traditional NRT like patches and gum were more popular. It estimates more than 50,000 smokers quit smoking in 2017 alone because of vaping products - whom it says would have continued to smoke otherwise. The greatest rise in quit success rates, as measured by the proportion of people who gave up salt and were deemed to have an acceptable quit success rate to be included in local quit smoking services for vaping products was obtained in 2019 and tenacity quit success of 59-7% in quit attempts existed in 2019 and 74% in 2024

B.2 Perceptions of Harm

Despite the increase in popularity of vaping products over the past few years, perceptions among the public about their harm relative to traditional smoking remain mixed. In 2024, 38% of smokers perceived Geek Bars to be as harmful as smoking, and 15% perceived them to be more harmful. Such perceptions are concerning, especially when considering the views of experts from both the UK and US who have long argued that vaping is far less harmful than smoking regular tobacco. Finally, the report states that public health information that is accurate is crucial in dispelling myths and offers clear, evidence-based information on the comparative risks of vaping versus smoking.

C. Impact of COVID-19

Data until October 2023 shows occasional smoking behaviours under COVID-19 across all adults and children that have a substantial impact relevant to Geek Bars in adults and children. Though smoking patterns had already changed during the pandemic according to recent research - for some, by making vaping products a more often used perceived safe alternative. But much of the data in this report was gathered before the pandemic, and the long-term effects of COVID-19 on smoking and vaping behavior have not yet been fully realized. Since the pandemic has not yet played out, further research will need to be conducted to tease apart these trends and establish public health measures.

D. Usage Statistics

D.1 Adult Usage

More than a quarter (27-2%) of smokers used nicotine vaping products to quit in 2024, making them the most commonly used aid in England. That's a chorus of cancellations that's increased dramatically in recent years and an indication of the growing acceptance of vaping as a means of quitting. In comparison, 18-2% of smokers used over-the-counter nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products such as patches and gum, and only 4-4% chose the prescription drug varenicline. It also shows that quit attempts involving Geek Bar products have increased by 50% as the number of successful quitters in England has risen.

D.2 Youth Usage

The percentage of young people aged 11-18 using Geek Bar vaping products monthly is relatively stable year on year [5] with 4-8% of young people using a Geek Bar monthly. Most of these users were current or former smokers; just 0.8% of never-smoking children had used Geek Bar products. It is with this in mind that this stabilization in youth use is encouraging, as it indicates that vaping products are not being disproportionately adopted by non-smoking youth. But we also have to be on guard that these products don't usher kids to a gateway to smoking.

E. Herd Immunity and the Messaging of Public Health

The analysis in vapers older literature discovered less worry of the unhealthy risks of smoking, however a mistaken idea of the potential danger of vaporing existence. In 2024, 38 percent of smokers thought that vaping was as harmful as smoking and 15 percent thought that the habit was more harmful. This is utterly antithetical to the blindingly clear, mountains of evidence on relative harm from the very best leading experts both in the UK and in US have of smoking vs vaping. PHE has been advising smokers to swap to vaping products to assist with cessation, but that non-smokers should not use such products. Most vaping products might expose users to fewer harmful chemicals than those produced by burning tobacco, but they are not without risk, and accurately communicating risks to the public is of utmost importance.

F. Expert Opinions

F.1 Professor John Newton Director of Health Improvement PHE.

Professor John Newton says: Smoking is still the single biggest cause of preventable death and disease, with 75,000 deaths in England in 2019- He disputes the assertion, saying: 'The best thing that any smoker can do is stop smoking full stop, and not just anecdotal, but robust evidence demonstrates how effective vaping products are to help enable that.' According to estimates, vaping gets smokers to quit at a rate of almost 50,000 a year, the single most effective means of quitting smoking.

F.2 Ann McNeill, Professor of Tobacco Addiction, King's College London (Lead of Author of the Report)

The new report, says Professor Ann McNeill, brings together evidence from randomised controlled trials, stop smoking services and population studies and demonstrates that nicotine vaping products are among the most effective methods of successfully helping a person to quit smoking. The evidence has reinforced our understanding of the centrality of vaping products to smoking cessation into evidence.

F.3 Deborah Arnott, chief executive, ASH

Deborah Arnott acknowledges Geek Bars have become viewed as a substitute for smoking, but the government must strike a balance between finding a solution for smokers who don't want to quit without kids taking up vaping. (Therein lies that careful balance, requiring both regulation and public health messaging to ensure that vaping products are used as intended.

F.4 Michelle Mitchell chief executive of Cancer Research UK

Michelle Mitchell says while geeks bars are a relatively new product, they pose serious risks, particularly as the long-term effects of using them are unknown. Cancer Research UK has said it is 'not encouraging non-smokers (especially young people) to use Geek Bars' and has urged further 'caution' until (after) we know the long-term health effect of those products.

G. Summarize

Known as the UK government plans to become smoke-free by 2030, which may create opportunities and challenges at the same time for the regulation of Geek Bars and other Vape. This will need improving the regulatory framework, such as by developing a new Tobacco Control Plan, and reviewing the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016, as well as ensuring that goal is achieved. They also must dissuade smokers from smoking, without unintentionally enlisting never-smokers, particularly young people. There is a need for more research and adequate public health messaging in response to new evidence in order to ensure that vaping products can be effectively used to fight smoking and that potential public health impacts are minimized.

Vape User Feedback Reference

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D. MY STORY: I was worried about the maintenance when I started vaping. My vape, however, has easy - to - clean parts. The tank comes off easily, and a quick rinse keeps it in good shape. I began with an old - school tobacco flavor and have moved to unique blends like blueberry – cheesecake.

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