A small study suggested that people who have already quit smoking find electronic cigarettes as a temptation to resume the habit they ditched.

A team of researchers in Scotland interviewed nearly 64 smokers and found very less consensus about the potential benefits and harms of e-cigarettes.

The study authors who presented their findings in the journal Tobacco Control said their findings reflect division in the medical community on the appropriateness of promoting e-cigarettes as a safer alternative to the real thing.

Senior study author Amanda Amos, a researcher at the Center for Population Health Sciences at the University of Edinburgh Medical School, said, “Because e-cigarettes are relatively new products we are only beginning to learn about the health risks”.

E-cigarettes are designed to mimic the real thing, with a glowing tip that emits a cloud of vapor. It has a battery and heating element inside it and as well as a cartridge that holds nicotine and other liquids or flavorings.

So far, e-cigarettes have been considered safer because the thing that makes normal cigarettes harmful is the tobacco smoke, and e-cigarettes don’t actually burn tobacco. E-cigarettes could be declared safer on this point but the nicotine present inside is also additive, which is again harmful.

Amos and colleagues conducted 12 focus groups and 11 individual interviews with current smokers and people who had quit smoking within the past year.

The groups generally viewed e-cigarettes as distinct from other nicotine replacement products like patches or gum that are designed to help people quit.

People were found less clear about what is the purpose or correct use of e-cigarettes. Some people saw e-cigarettes as a more satisfying replacement to smoking, while others viewed them as less desirable or even as a threat to smoking cessation, found researchers.