Smoking Cigarettes Are Still More Cost-Effective Than Vaping

Contrary to what you thought, e-cigarettes, a "tax-advantaged product," are still more expensive than tobacco cigarettes.

Experts headed by Alex Liber at the American Cancer Society and the University of Michigan School of Public Health explored the costs for tobacoo and electronic cigarettes with regard to tax policies. They found that disposable e-cigarettes cost $3.50 more ($5.00 versus $8.50) on average.

The refillable cartridges used in e-cigarettes may be cheaper than cigarettes, but users had to buy a rechargeable e-cigarette, which may bring the costs down by $20. Experts found that smokers are inclined to buy the more expensive rechargeable e-cigarettes.

Among the 45 countries studied, there were 44 that showed that e-cigarettes were more expensive in 44 of them. The study could influence governments to tax e-cigarettes with reference to taxes in place for tobacco cigarettes.

"Existing prices of e-cigarettes are generally much higher than of combustible cigarettes," the study authors wrote. "If policymakers wish to tax e-cigarettes less than combustibles, forceful policy action-almost certainly through excise taxation-must raise the price of combustible cigarettes beyond the price of using e-cigarettes."

Worryingly, smoking causes the most number of preventable deaths in the U.S., being the cause of 480,000 deaths per year, said estimates provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Many studies found that vaping is a healthier alternative to smoking, which would, therefore, make it more profitable if e-cigarettes are made cheaper than the alternative varieties.