The problem, the research found, is that close to half of the UK population (44.8 percent) isn't aware that vaping is less harmful than tobacco. In fact, a growing number of people think e-cigarettes are just as dangerous, if not more so than the regular kind -- 22.1 percent hold this view in 2015, up from 8.1 percent in 2013. PHE hasn't suggested that vaping is a healthy pursuit -- it's likely not risk free -- but it believes public perception could be stopping smokers from trying e-cigarettes and, eventually, dropping the habit entirely. "Local stop smoking services should look to support e-cigarette users in their journey to quitting completely," Professor Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing at PHE said.

Legislation due in October will ban under-18s from buying e-cigarettes in the UK, in part because their long-term health effects are still unknown. Today's report isn't an all-clear for lifelong vaping, but it could help the technology slowly shake its troubled image.

[Image Credit: Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images]