Smoking delivers nicotine by burning tobacco. Inhaling the smoke from burning tobacco can cause many serious smoking-related illnesses. Vaping delivers nicotine in a less harmful way by heating a liquid until it forms a vapour that is inhaled. While nicotine is addictive, it doesn’t cause cancer or related illnesses. Vaping is not harmless, but it is less harmful than smoking. Only vape to quit smoking.    

Vaping liquid (also called e-liquid or e-juice) typically contains propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, plus flavours and usually nicotine in a range of concentrations.

Vape devices are sometimes known as electronic cigarettes. Devices have changed their design and features over the years. They now include vapes with prefilled pods that contain e-liquid and vapes with refillable tanks. All vapes sold in New Zealand must meet safety regulations, which include having child-safety mechanisms.

Vaping can help people quit smoking by providing nicotine at similar levels to smoking but with fewer of the toxicants that come from burning tobacco. Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it is not harmless. People should only vape to quit smoking.

Tobacco companies have developed devices that heat, rather than burn tobacco. These devices are different to vaping devices which heat a liquid that may contain nicotine. Because these devices heat, rather than burn tobacco they are likely to produce far fewer toxicants, and different poisons compared to regular cigarette smoking. Heated tobacco products are marketed as being less harmful than smoking. However, there is relatively little research on the health effects of heated tobacco products.

“No studies reported on cigarette smoking cessation, so the effectiveness of heated tobacco for this purpose remains uncertain.” (Cohrane review, 2022).

For more detail, view the Evidence Review of E-cigarettes and Heated Tobacco Products 2018, a report commissioned by Public Health England.