The debate over the merits of non-combustible alternatives to cigarettes in helping smokers to quit and reduce their health risks has increasingly focused on concerns relating to youth and non-smokers’ uptake, both of which are important public health considerations.
Yet, in the process, the voices and lived realities of smokers themselves and those closest to them have often been marginalised or overlooked.
Sceptics continue to deny that these alternatives provide meaningful benefit, either in improving quit rates or in reducing harm, despite the central question remaining how best to reduce the devastating burden caused by combustible tobacco use among those who already smoke.
But what about the people closest to smokers? Most would agree that their health and quality of life is compromised by exposure to second-hand smoke and everything that goes with it: the smelly home, car and clothing, and the distress caused by proximity to a loved one who smokes.
This consideration partly explains the attempt in the Tobacco Products and Electronic Delivery Systems Control Bill to prohibit smoking, but also vaping, in a home, vehicle, working environment or public place where non-smokers are present.
The penalties proposed in the Bill are severe, but the question is, how would they be enforced, and could they even work?
A new study conducted in North America, Europe and Asia shows there is a better way. Conducted by Ipsos, the study surveyed people close to someone who had stopped smoking within the past five years and compared their experience based on the method used to quit1.
The research focused on understanding how the transition from traditional cigarettes to non-combustible nicotine products – including heated tobacco products, vapes, and nicotine pouches -impacts not only the former smokers but also their loved ones.
The results show positive outcomes across multiple dimensions for entire households and social networks, including perceived health and lifestyle changes when the person quitting transitioned to a non-combustible nicotine product – versus other quit methods.
Ipsos surveyed the perspectives of more than 4,000 individuals across five countries on three continents (USA, Canada, UK, France, and Japan) who live with or are close to former smokers.
Among the key findings were that alternative nicotine products can play a meaningful role in helping smokers quit traditional cigarettes.
E-cigarettes were the most commonly used alternative to help quit smoking in the European and North American countries studied, while heated tobacco products dominated in Japan.
Friends and family members reported noticeably greater positive changes when their loved ones used alternative nicotine products to quit smoking, and they demonstrated markedly improved emotional well-being compared to those who quit without using these alternatives.
Those who witnessed a friend or relative quit using alternative nicotine products also strongly endorsed their effectiveness and supported smokers having access to them.
Smokers who used these alternatives to quit showed markedly improved emotional well-being compared to those who quit without them, according to friends and family.
The most frequently observed changes in friends and relatives who quit smoking related to appearance and physical attributes, including the way they smell.
Across all countries and all aspects such as their mood, personal presence, self-confidence, emotional sensitivity and sociability, those who used alternative nicotine products to quit smoking saw more improved outcomes.
Quality of life improvements were also consistently higher when the quitter used vapes, heated tobacco products or nicotine pouches.
Shared experiences improved significantly, including the ability to spend quality time together for social activities, participation in exercise together and enjoyment of restaurant outings.
Given all of the above, it is no surprise that the research found overwhelming support for adult smokers’ rights to access alternative nicotine products, ranging from 85% in Japan and the US, to 70% in Canada and 71% in France.
This brings into a focus a whole constituency whose views on the Tobacco Bill – and specifically its intent to penalise smokers who switch to vaping regardless of the very different risk profiles of the products – have not been tested.
If family and friends of smokers who transition to vapes and other alternatives report positive experiences and outcomes, for themselves and their loved ones who quit, then the Bill is misguided in its punitive approach in relation to the use of these products in the presence of others.
For smokers themselves, there is growing evidence that nicotine delivery via vapes can play an important role in helping to reduce toxicant exposure from cigarettes.
In a randomised, placebo-controlled clinical trial conducted in the US2, researchers sought to determine the short-term effects of switching from cigarettes to a pod-based 5% nicotine vape, compared with a 0% nicotine vape.
It found that switching from cigarettes to a 5% nicotine vape for 6 weeks was associated with reduced levels of 4-(methylnitrosamino)-1-(3-pyridyl)-1-butanol, a tobacco-specific lung carcinogen biomarker, compared with the 0% nicotine vape.
Concern for the wellbeing of smokers and those close to them is to be welcomed, but the question must be: why is no one asking them what works best to help smokers quit and improve their quality of life, as well as that of those around them?
By Kurt Yeo
This article is an opinion piece by Kurt Yeo. The views in this article are those of Yeo, and do not represent the views of BusinessTech and its associated companies.
*Yeo is the co-founder of consumer advocacy group Vaping Saved My Life.
- Ipsos, The Household Case for Innovation: A Five-Country Survey on Smoking Cessation, and Quality of Life, May 2026 https://www.weareinnovation.global/household-case-for-innovation/
- Yingst, Jessica M et al, Toxicant Exposures After Switching From Cigarettes to a Pod-Based Electronic Cigarette, May 19, 2026 https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2849145
