The use of electronic cigarettes among UK adults has tripled in just two years, with a worrying rise among ex-smokers, indicates new data. A YouGov survey, which was commissioned by Action on Smoking and Health (ASH), revealed that the estimated number of people smoking e-cigarettes leapt from 700,000 in 2012 to 2.1 million in 2014. Nearly two-thirds of users are current smokers, while one-third had given up the habit. Encouragingly, just one per cent had never smoked.

Smokers reported using e-cigarettes to help cut down on tobacco, save money or quit, while former smokers claimed it was a way of helping them stay away from regular cigarettes. The public had mixed feelings about electronic cigarettes, with just over half believing that they were beneficial to public health and around a quarter disagreeing. The findings coincided with the publication of a position paper from Pharmacy Voice, which calls for e-cigarettes to be regulated and aligned with current NRT products. The paper also states that pharmacists should “be free to exercise their clinical judgement” with regard to the sale of e-cigarettes.

Meanwhile, the Royal Pharmaceutical Society has called for e-cigarettes to be subject to the same restrictions on age, advertising and use in public spaces as other forms of smoking.