More than 60 years after the U.S. Surgeon General released its landmark report on the dangers of smoking, a new breed of “cigfluencers” has emerged in popular culture of celebrities puffing cigarettes in paparazzi photos. While some speculate whether smoking is actually making a comeback, other public health experts are noticing a more worrisome trend in people’s relationship with cigarettes.
Emerging research shows that more individuals are switching from vaping back to combustible cigarettes, a reversal of a pattern of e-cigarettes being used as a tool to quit. An Action on Smoking and Health (ASH)-commissioned survey by Talbot Mills Research found that of 623 current smokers and 1,070 former smokers in New Zealand, 14% reported using smoking to quit vaping. In a separate ASH survey of 940 adults in the UK, 19% said they’ve tried to quit vaping using cigarettes as a quitting aid, the second most popular strategy to quit vaping.
