Use of e-cigarettes in UK has tripled in two years, finds survey

The use of electronic cigarettes in the United Kingdom has tripled in the past two years, with 2.1 million people regularly using the devices in 2014, up from 700 000 in 2012, a survey for the antismoking charity Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) has found.

Nearly two thirds of people who use electronic cigarettes are also smokers of conventional cigarettes, and a third are former smokers. The survey did not distinguish between those who took up vaping to quit smoking and those who turned to it after a period of not smoking.

ASH commissioned the survey from YouGov, which asked 12 269 adults about their smoking and vaping habits in March this year and extrapolated …