The Numbers Game
I’ve always been a numbers person. Whether it’s due to my early days of playing online poker or my hyper-analytical mind, I’ve always broken down the data when dealing with a situation. Percentages, calculations, and projections; this is how my brain works. Perhaps I should have been an accountant.
Let’s delve into the statistics when it comes to smoking in Canada.
Smoking Statistics in Canada
In 2018, an estimated 15.8% of Canadians smoked cigarettes, which translates to approximately 4,900,000 people. Of those, the largest demographic was males aged 20-34 years, where nearly 25% were smokers.
By Province, British Columbia showed the lowest smoking levels overall at 12%, and Saskatchewan the highest at 20.1%.
Every year, about 17% of all deaths in Canada are related to smoking. It’s estimated that 36,500 Canadians die each year from smoking-related illness.
Broken down, if you are a smoker, you have a 0.7% chance every year you are alive of dying from smoking. Over a 10-year period, this is a 7.4% chance, and over a 50-year smoking lifetime, this is a 37.2% chance.
Looking at it another way, every year smoking kills close to 1% of its users. Every. Single. Year.
Digging a little deeper, secondhand smoke caused an estimated 831 deaths among Canadian adults in 2002. Also in 2002, smoking and exposure to secondhand smoke accounted for almost 100 infant deaths. Let’s add another nearly 1,000 more deaths in Canada to smoking.
Now let’s shift our focus to vaping; specifically, vaping nicotine e-liquid.
Vaping Statistics in Canada
In Canada, as of 2017, an estimated 15.4% of the population has ever tried an e-cigarette, which is approximately 4.6 million Canadians.
Of these, only 2.9% have used an e-cigarette in the past 30 days, and only about 1% reported using e-cigarettes daily. This equates to approximately 292,000 Canadians vaping daily.
Over half of the current smokers in Canada report having used an e-cigarette, compared to just 6.7% of non-smokers.
Among youth, two-thirds of current smoking youth have used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, compared to 5% of non-smokers.
What Does This Data Mean?
Using an e-cigarette in Canada is much more popular (over 53% vs. 6.7%) in smokers vs. non-smokers. This means that the vast majority of Canadians trying e-cigarettes (87.4%) are current smokers using e-cigarettes to stop smoking as they are designed to do.
The majority of youth (two-thirds of youth currently smoking) are looking at e-cigarettes to stop smoking. This is compared to just 5% of non-smoking youth. This means that 93% of youth using e-cigarettes are smokers using e-cigarettes to stop smoking.
Using an e-cigarette with nicotine in Canada has resulted in:
Zero confirmed deaths
E-cigarettes and e-liquid with nicotine have been available in Canada for over a decade. Canada Vapes has been selling nicotine vaping products to adult Canadians since 2010. There has been zero confirmed deaths from vaping nicotine in that time. Nearly 300,000 active daily users in Canada, and 4.6 million Canadians who have at least tried using an e-cigarette with nicotine; zero deaths.
Smoking vs. Vaping – Is Vaping a ‘Gateway to Smoking’?
The number of Canadians Smoking in 2001 was 21.7%. In 2007 it was 19.2%. In 2012 it was 16.1%. In 2017 it was 15.1%. Smoking in Canada has been gradually declining since 2000. There is simply no evidence to support the claim that vaping leads to smoking. The data provided shows that the majority of people trying vaping are current smokers, which should (in theory) further reduce the prevalence of smoking in Canada.
Since we started Canada Vapes in 2010, the number of daily smokers in Canada has reduced from 13% to 10.8% which is a reduction of 2.2% or 17% reduction of daily smokers in Canada.
Compare and Contrast:
Smoking: Kills 100 people a day, and causes 2-3 people to die each day from secondhand smoke. It also kills 100 babies a year. Approximately 4.9 million Canadians smoke.
Vaping: In 15+ years has killed 0 people. Approximately 300,000 Canadians vape nicotine e-liquid on a daily basis.
In Conclusion
I will draw no conclusions. I will let the numbers speak for themselves. If you are a current smoker, I would just ask that you let your own common sense and intelligence be your guide. If you are an adult smoker looking at vaping nicotine e-liquid, please consider visiting Canada Vapes. Since 2010 we have converted thousands of smokers to vapers. We believe we are saving lives, but will let the numbers talk.
2018 Smoking and mortality Study found here
E-Cigarette use in Canada study found here.
Smoking prevalence study can be found here.
