Watch & reflect

Watch

Two videos worth watching, with the moments that matter most. Each video opens on YouTube's privacy-enhanced player only when you press play. We've added a short note to each, because good videos still need context.

01 / Vaping, cigarettes & health

Vapes vs Cigarettes: The truth about your health

BBC deepwatch29 min

Vapes vs Cigarettes

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Content note: Near the end (25:07–27:47), a woman describes a serious lung illness. It can be upsetting.

Keep this context in mind

Made in the UK and first shown in March 2024, so some rules it calls 'coming' (like the UK ban on disposable vapes, in force since June 2025) have since happened, and Australia's rules have changed too. Canada caps nicotine at the same 20 mg/mL, but its other rules differ. 'Better than cigarettes' is about adult smokers who switch completely, not a sign that vaping is safe for someone who doesn't smoke. The lab results are one lab's tests of seized illegal vapes, with sample sizes not given.

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What to look out for

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  1. 2:46Many young people who vape had never regularly smoked, and a 17-year-old describes the habit and the cost. (The survey figure here is about 18–24-year-olds.)
  2. 5:49What's inside a vape.
  3. 8:21How strong the nicotine is, and the UK's limits.
  4. 10:42What one lab says it found in seized illegal vapes (unpublished results).
  5. 27:52The presenter decides to quit.
02 / Evidence & persuasion

The Truth About Vaping

14 min

The Truth About Vaping

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Keep this context in mind

This video argues one side of a real debate. The famous '95% less harmful' figure came from an expert panel's estimates, not measurements, and critics called that evidence weak. Even so, Health Canada and the UK's NHS say that adults who smoke lower their risk by switching completely to vaping. They also say vaping isn't harmless and that people who don't smoke shouldn't vape. The video's body and brain studies were done in rats and lab dishes, so they don't show what happens in teens.

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Spot the tricks

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  1. 1:52The "appeal to authority" trick: a famous person's opinion offered as if it were evidence.
  2. 4:03Who was really behind some pro-vaping posts online.
  3. 5:41Where the "95% less harmful" number came from.
  4. 8:46Why hearing something again and again makes it feel true.
  5. 9:20What a 2023 Australian review found about addiction, lung injury, and later smoking.
  6. 13:23His conclusion.