According to the American Lung Association, “There are approximately 600 ingredients in cigarettes. When burned, they create more than 7,000 chemicals. At least 69 of these chemicals are known to cause cancer, and many are poisonous.” Millions of Americans are lighting up daily, knowing the health concerns, the dangers of secondhand smoke, and even dealing with the villainization of being a smoker. Imagine a product that mimics the experience of smoking, transports nicotine in an alternative, better way, aids in long-term smoking cessation, and is 95% less harmful than the traditional cigarette.
You do not have to imagine, introducing the Electronic-cigarette (also known as vaping), which came on the market in the United States in 2007.
These devices which are known by a variety of names, include: “vape- pens”, e-cigarettes”, “hookahs”, “tank systems”, and “mods”. This product heats the ingredients as opposed to combusting them. Instead of this product being hailed as less dangerous alternative to smoking, the government has categorized it as a tobacco product.
This has allowed the FDA to take regulatory authority over it, implementing restrictions, requiring permits, and indoctrinating the public into believing smoking the lesser of the 2 evils. E-cigarettes should not be in the same category as traditional cigarettes for several reason; they are less dangerous to your health and those around you, they are not a tobacco product, and there is no combustion taking place, which is what makes smoking so hazardous.
E-cigarettes are a much safer alternative to traditional cigarettes. An electronic cigarette is a battery-powered device that converts “juice” into a mist that the user inhales and is then able to simulate smoking.
An Electronic cigarette contains; water, food-grade flavoring, vegetable glycerin or propylene glycol, and the user can opt for nicotine of nicotine free. That’s it, 4 possibly 5 ingredients, in comparison to traditional cigarettes which contain thousands of chemicals when smoked to produce carbon monoxide, hydrogen cyanide, noxious gasses, and create a sticky tar that is inhaled into the user’s lungs.
“The major benefits of e-cigarettes compared to regular cigarettes, is that they do not produce tar, or the toxic gasses found in cigarette smoke.” (Ross, John “E-cigarettes: Good news, bad news www.health.harvard.edu, Harvard Health Publishing, July 25, 2016) The burning and combustion of the tobacco and chemicals in e-cigarettes is what makes the delivery so dangerous. Vaping has also allowed a group of people who want to stop smoking an effective way to fulfill their nicotine and smoke craving, without lighting up. As of summer, 2016, the ban on vaping and e-cigarettes, making it illegal to vape in public areas, except where smoking is allowed. Ex-smokers are now being required to smoke in the same areas as tobacco smokers, possibly driving vapers back to smoking.
Do e-cigarettes sound too good to be true? Could they be risk-free? Of course not, e-cigarettes and vaping come with concerns just like tobacco cigarettes. One of the biggest concerns is that minors are vaping. According to the CDC “In 2016, more than 2 million US middle and high school students used e-cigarettes in the past 30 days, including 4.3% of middle schoolers and 11.3% of high school students.” The juice comes in thousands of flavors which include; bubblegum, cotton candy, and chocolate peanut butter. Candy flavors that appeal to kids. Are these companies targeting the youth? It sure seems like it.
We should not to try recruit new users but help the community that has a problem and is looking for a solution. Some drugs can take 10 to 15 years to complete the phase of clinical trials. The e-cigarette has been available to Americans for a little over a decade, not enough time has elapsed to have collected and studied the appropriate data. The long-term effects are simply unknown. Another problem associated with vaping is the lithium-ion battery which provides the power. The batteries have been known to explode when overcharged or if they meet certain types of metal. This is not a common problem. Yet, a very serious problem that has affected dozens of people. This might be a problem of misinformation or lack of information on the user’s part. In addition, an illness known as Popcorn Lung has been associated with vaping. Garnering the name after employees at a microwave popcorn company who became ill due to the inhalation of diacetyl, the flavoring compound. Diacetyl is also an ingredient that aids in flavoring.
Despite e-cigarettes being a new product on the market and its effects being unknown, we do have data on the short-term affects of vaping, and it looks promising. There is evidence to support that vaping has had a positive impact on aiding in smoking cessation in a mature population. Ex-smokers everywhere praise the alternative smoking device which has allowed them to break free of traditional combustible smoking. Unfortunately, the smear campaign that is run by big Pharma and the FDA has been incredible successful. Creating an image that caping is as, or more harmful than traditional cigarettes, “… Us authorities are taking extreme, hysterical and even ludicrous steps to stamp out vaping, massively overstating the harm it does, speculating wildly on unproven potential risks from trace amounts of chemicals involved and banning vaping indoors, outdoors, and even in outdoor public spaces such as parks.” (Smith, Kyle “Why is the government destroying vaping?” Living, New York Post, 1 May 2016)
E-cigarettes have been one of the only devices that has successfully helped traditional smokers quit. After decades of knowing that adverse effects of smoking people now have a reasonable option available to them. So why is this product demonized instead of celebrated? Possibly the years of pain and illness families have endured due to the side effects of smoking has left Americans with a distaste for anything that resembles the cigarette. However, e-cigarettes and vaping should not be categorized together. Vaping is less dangerous to those around you, it is not a tobacco product, and is not combusted which is what makes smoking so dangerous. Restricting the availability of this product to the public, will only lead to more smokers using traditional tobacco in the traditional way.
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