By Ken Fry, Founder & CEO, Terps USA

The disagreement is about how to manage relative risk

Combustible cigarettes are extraordinarily harmful. E-cigarettes avoid combustion but are not risk-free. The policy argument is therefore not “dangerous versus safe.” It is how much weight to place on adult harm reduction, smoking cessation, youth uptake, addiction and uncertainty about long-term effects.

What WHO actually recommends

WHO says countries that already ban e-cigarette sales should enforce those bans. Where countries permit e-cigarettes as consumer products, WHO recommends strong regulation, including restrictions on flavours, nicotine concentration, marketing and taxation. For smoking cessation, WHO says countries should first use established cessation approaches and, if e-cigarettes are used for cessation, control access and regulate them as medicines rather than ordinary consumer products.

What UK physicians actually say

The Royal College of Physicians’ 2024 evidence review concludes that e-cigarettes remain an important tool for reducing the burden of tobacco use. At the same time, the RCP calls for measures to reduce their appeal, availability and affordability to children, young people and people who do not smoke. That is a harm-reduction position, not a claim that vaping is harmless.

About the famous “95% less harmful” figure

The “95% less harmful than smoking” estimate became influential in UK public-health messaging, but it should not be treated as a precise, permanent measurement of individual risk. The stronger current formulation is qualitative: major UK health bodies judge vaping to expose smokers to substantially less harm than continued combustible smoking, while acknowledging residual risks and evidence gaps.

Cessation evidence matters too

A 2019 randomized trial in UK stop-smoking services found one-year abstinence rates of 18.0% among participants assigned e-cigarettes and 9.9% among those assigned nicotine-replacement therapy, with behavioral support in both groups. That is evidence that e-cigarettes can help some smokers quit. It does not mean they are appropriate for youth, never-smokers or every smoker.

Where Terps USA lands

The defensible harm-reduction argument is not that vapor is harmless. It is that regulation should distinguish non-combustible products from combustible smoking, evaluate actual exposure and use evidence proportionate to risk. That position can coexist with strict youth protections, ingredient transparency and product standards.

FAQ

Does WHO recommend that every country ban e-cigarettes?

No. WHO supports enforcement in countries that prohibit e-cigarette sales, but for countries that permit them it recommends strong regulation. WHO also says any cessation use should be carefully controlled and, in its preferred approach, regulated as a medicine rather than an ordinary consumer product.

Does the Royal College of Physicians say vaping is harmless?

No. Its 2024 review describes e-cigarettes as an important tobacco-harm-reduction tool while also recommending stronger measures to reduce use by children, young people and people who do not smoke.

Is vaping exactly 95% safer than smoking?

The 95% figure is a historical UK harm-reduction estimate, not a precise measurement that applies to every device, user or health outcome. A more defensible statement is that UK medical bodies such as the Royal College of Physicians assess vaping as substantially less harmful than continued combustible smoking, while not risk-free.

Sources

Fry, K. (2026). Why Settle: The War on Vapor. Terps USA Research. DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.20683826.

World Health Organization. (2024). Tobacco: E-cigarettes; and Electronic cigarettes: call to action.

Royal College of Physicians. (2024). E-cigarettes and harm reduction: An evidence review.

Hajek, P., et al. (2019). A Randomized Trial of E-Cigarettes versus Nicotine-Replacement Therapy. New England Journal of Medicine, 380, 629–637. DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1808779.

This article is for informational and industry education purposes only. Terps USA products do not contain THC or CBD. These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. Readers are encouraged to consult the cited primary sources directly.