Vaping vs. smoking: Long term effects, benefits, and risks How media coverage of vaping restrictions might influence public perceptions: insights from a new study BIT Many people believe that vaping is less harmful than smoking, but that's a common misconception. In fact, in addition to nicotine, vapes can contain toxic chemicals that could be linked to cancer, Some reports state that these new, flavored smoking devices are less harmful than tobacco cigarettes but how safe is vaping? In this third part of a four part series, China Daily examines the Is vaping better than smoking? Or is vaping worse than smoking?