New Study Highlights the Public Health and Economic Benefits of Switching from Smoking to Vaping

For years, the conversation around vaping has been dominated by fear, misinformation, and policy decisions that often ignore real-world data. But a new, comprehensive economic analysis is cutting through the noise—and the findings are impossible to ignore. 

In October 2024, the Vapor Technology Association (VTA) commissioned a landmark study conducted by Robert Shapiro, former U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce for Economic Affairs, and Luke Stuttgen, former Staff Economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors under both Democratic and Republican administrations. 

Their analysis examines over a decade of data—from 2011 to 2022—tracking the rise of e-cigarettes, their impact on smoking rates, and the measurable public health and economic outcomes tied to smokers switching away from combustible cigarettes. 

👉 The full study is available here: https://vaportechnology.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/State-Analysis-of-Smokers-Switching-to-Vaping-Shapiro-Stuttgen.pdf 

 

A Turning Point in Smoking Decline 

 

One of the most striking findings is just how dramatically smoking rates have fallen—and how closely that decline aligns with the adoption of vaping products. 

By 2022, the U.S. adult smoking rate dropped to 11.3%, significantly lower than the projected 16.2% had pre-2010 trends simply continued. 

That gap isn’t random. 

According to the study, 6.1 million fewer adults are smoking today because of vaping. 

That’s not a theory. That’s not speculation. That’s real people—millions of them—who moved away from combustible cigarettes, the leading cause of preventable death. 

 

Lives Saved, Years Gained 

 

Behind every statistic is a human story—and this study quantifies those outcomes in a way policymakers can’t ignore. 

Between 2011 and 2022: 

• 113,274 premature deaths were averted 
• Nearly 2.5 million life years were preserved 

These aren’t small numbers. These are families kept whole. These are years added back to people’s lives that would have otherwise been lost to smoking-related disease. 

Some of the states seeing the greatest impact per capita include: 

• West Virginia 
• Kentucky 
• Arkansas 
• Mississippi 
• New York 

Not coincidentally, many of these are states historically burdened by higher smoking rates—making the impact of harm reduction even more meaningful. 

 

The Economic Impact No One Talks About 

 

Public health is only part of the story. 

The economic benefits tied to smokers switching to vaping are staggering: 

• $179.3 billion in total economic benefits (2011–2022) 
• $65.8 billion from increased productivity due to lives saved 
• $71.2 billion from reductions in smoking-related illness 
• $42.3 billion in healthcare savings, including reduced secondhand smoke exposure 

This isn’t just about individual choices—it’s about national impact. 

Fewer smoking-related illnesses mean less strain on healthcare systems. Fewer premature deaths mean a stronger workforce. Reduced secondhand smoke exposure improves outcomes for entire communities. 

 

What This Means for Policy 

 

At a time when many states—including South Carolina—are moving toward restrictive vapor product registries and flavor bans, this data raises an important question: 

Are we regulating against the very tools that are driving historic declines in smoking? 

Because the reality is simple: 

• Smoking kills. 
• Harm reduction works. 
• Vaping has played a significant role in accelerating the decline of cigarette use in the U.S. 

And yet, policies continue to treat all nicotine products as if they carry the same level of risk—which this study, along with a growing body of research, directly contradicts. 

 

The Bottom Line 

 

This study reinforces what millions of former smokers already know: 

Switching from cigarettes to vaping isn’t just a personal choice—it’s a public health win. 

• Millions of smokers have quit or reduced their cigarette use 
• Over 100,000 lives have already been saved 
• Billions in economic value have been created 

The question now isn’t whether harm reduction works. 

It’s whether policymakers are willing to follow the data—or continue ignoring it.