ZURICH (BLOOMBERG) - Vaping has helped tens of thousands of Britons quit smoking each year, a study showed, underlining the United Kingdom's more tolerant stance on the alternative to cigarettes as a backlash grows in the United States.

Roughly 50,000 to 70,000 British smokers are giving up annually and embracing e-cigarettes, according to the report by researchers at University College London. The study analysed the rise of vaping since 2011, saying it correlated with a pattern of declining smoking rates since then.

The report highlights a difference in attitudes toward vaping in the US and Britain.

A number of American states and cities have limited access to the new devices following more than 1,000 cases of ailments that have largely been linked to liquids laced with the psychoactive compound in cannabis.

There has been no similar spread of illness in Europe, and British health officials have reiterated their stance that vaping is less harmful than cigarettes, encouraging smokers to switch.

"England seems to have found a sensible balance between regulation and promotion of e-cigarettes," said lead author Emma Beard. "Millions of smokers are using them to try to stop smoking or to cut down the amount they smoke."

Data were based on thousands of smokers between 2006 and 2017, tracking their efforts to quit and their use of e-cigarettes. The findings were published on Thursday (Oct 17) by the scientific journal Addiction, and the study was funded by Cancer Research UK.