Want to quit cigarettes? Vaping is far from a go-to, Canadian guideline says – CBC

Smoking has declined for decades in Canada, but tobacco remains the top cause of preventable death from cancer

Aug 25, 2025

People trying to quit smoking should not reach for e-cigarettes or vapes as their first choice to butt out, a new Canadian guideline says.

Instead, clinicians should stay updated on whether their patients smoke or not, and offer them options to quit that have been proven effective, including medications, nicotine replacements and counselling.

Those interventions boost a person’s odds of quitting for good in the long term, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care said in Monday’s issue of the Canadian Medical Association Journal. The guideline conditionally recommends against e-cigarettes.

Even though smoking has declined for decades in Canada, tobacco remains the top cause of preventable death from cancer.

Read more: https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/smoking-quit-cmaj-1.7616258