Wendy Zuckerman

So I think the broad message around vaping...

When compared to smoking, it hasn't changed that much.

I mean, when Science Versus did our first episode on vaping, one of the key scientists I interviewed said, quote, because the danger of cigarettes is so stratospherically high, it's like comparing the 15th highest mountain in the world, that would be vaping, to Mount Everest.

And the joke I made back then, which I still think is pretty good, is that climbing Mount Gaya Chung Kang is still pretty tricky.

Yeah.

But seriously, though, this has made me wonder, why are we comparing vaping to smoking?

Why are we doing this mountain comparison?

Because, you know, even if we get more data that vaping is bad and it becomes...

I don't know, Gashabrum 2, the 13th highest mountain in the world?

What if it even gets so bad that it's Gashabrum 1, which is the 11th highest mountain in the world?

I mean, the broader point is that currently, at least, when we compare vaping to smoking, vaping looks good.

Still, despite these headlines you hear, vaping looks good.

Right.

But if you look at vaping just on its own...

Vaping looks bad.

And so the reason that we have been making this comparison is because vaping was brought on the scene as this tool to help people quit smoking.

So it's very important for you to know as a smoker, wait, should I switch to this healthier thing or not?

Which leads us to our next question, which is how well do vapes actually help people quit smoking?

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.