Wendy Zuckerman

No, so that number comes from a Cochrane review, which pulled together a ton of trials looking at thousands of people and ultimately concluded that for every hundred folks who use nicotine e-cigs to stop smoking, eight to 11 of them might successfully stop, which is where you get that 90% failure rate.

It's worth pointing out, according to that review, vapes don't look too bad when you compare it to the other stuff.

So six out of 100 people might successfully quit smoking when they use patches or gum.

Four out of 100 might successfully quit if you do other things, like you go cold turkey.

But here is why, because I can hear people really holding on to this, particularly if you want to keep holding on to your vapes.

Here is why experts will say, try all that other stuff first.

before going for vapes.

One is, well, let's say if you're just using patches, you are not breathing in that vape crap.

But also because people who use vapes to quit smoking, like the friends in your life, keep vaping.

They then pick up the habit.

Keep smoking?

No, they keep vaping.

They pick up the habit of...

Of vaping.

They've become vapers, yeah.

Whereas people who use patches, gum, stuff like that, they eventually manage, they've got a much higher chance of quitting their dependency altogether.

So, for example, one randomized control trial found that 80% of the people who quit cigarettes using vapes were still vaping a year later, 80%.

While only 9% of those who did stuff like patches and gums were still using those products.

But OK, so here's where we are at.

Most scientists agree that vaping is safer than smoking.