KUALA LUMPUR, Feb 25 — Contrary to popular belief, excessive regulations on e-cigarettes like vaping do not actually prevent or discourage smoking, a recent research paper showed.

Instead, such draconian measures actually discourage smokers from switching to a safer alternative. 

Written by Steve Pociask and Liam Sigaud for American Consumer Institute, Center for Citizen Research, the research paper also found that statistical evidence in the US showed that raising e-cigarette taxes only pushed its users back to smoking.

"Overzealous or poorly designed restrictions on vaping, combined with misleading information about e-cigarettes’ actual health risks, are deterring smokers from pursuing a potentially life-saving alternative,” said the duo.

Titled "How Regulations Endanger the Public Health: A Review of the Evidence on E-Cigarette Risks and Benefits, and Policy Missteps”, the 2022 paper looked at the impact of excessive regulations on e-cigarettes in the US.

While e-cigarettes were not without risks, it was much safer than smoking which kills eight million people a year.

"A 2018 study in the journal Tobacco Control projected that if cigarette use were largely replaced by vaping over a 10-year period in the US, it would prevent as many as 6.6 million premature deaths.”

The writers also cited a 2015 Public Health England systematic review that said e-cigarettes were at least 95 per cent less harmful than conventional cigarettes. 

The research paper reported on several studies that show vaping is twice as effective in helping smokers quit compared to other nicotine-based smoking cessation treatments. 

The paper concluded that without vaping, smokers will be without the "most potent” smoking cessation treatment. 

"Too often, policymakers have acted without carefully weighing the costs and benefits of their actions. Knee-jerk opposition to e-cigarettes, often fueled by misleading information, curbs their use as a smoking cessation aid that could benefit millions of Americans. 

"It is time for policymakers to follow the science and allow adult consumers to access these life-saving products.”