INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — A recent study out of London and published in the journal Addiction says e-cigarettes could be 95% more likely to help a person quit smoking than traditional nicotine replacement aids. 

The 12-year study of nearly 20,000 people compared the quitting success rates of several stop-smoking aids.

Successful quitters were those who hadn’t smoked for at least one year.

Nationwide, the CDC says almost 70% of smokers want to quit. 

In Indiana, 10% of high school students and 6% of adults have reported using e-cigarettes. That’s according to the state’s Tobacco Prevention and Cessation Commission.

Authors of the study say it should spark the conversation of how e–cigarettes could be an effective way of helping people kick the habit. 

The study also revealed that smokers who were prescribed nicotine replacement aids by a medical professional were 34% more likely to quit. 

Doctor Mitchell Pfeiffer, a Pulmonologist at St. Vincent, warns this is a dangerous slope. 

He says while no study has ever shown near this quit rate, the results are not valid unless reproducible.

He also cautions anyone who wants to quit by looking for a shortcut. 

“Insurance companies over the years generally won’t cover nicotine replacement stuff, because they say, if you want to quit, you’re more likely to quit if you spend your own money. If it doesn’t cost you anything to get the product, you have no skin in the game and you’re not likely to quit,” said Dr. Pfeiffer. 

Dr. Pfeiffer says nicotine is still being inhaled even when vaping. He warns everyone nicotine is still a drug and highly addictive.

While e-cigarettes may pose less risk than traditional smoking, Dr. Pfeiffer says e-cigarettes are still not as good as not smoking or never smoking. 

For more information about how e-cigarettes can be used to quit smoking, click here.