By: Shawnee Arnett, Staff Writer
Over the past few years, electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, have increased in popularity, leaving many to wonder if they will eventually replace traditional cigarettes for both regular and occasional smokers.
Electronic cigarettes look like traditional cigarettes, are smoked the same way, and generally include nicotine, but do not contain all of the cancer causing chemicals that are found in regular cigarettes. Instead, they include a battery powered heating element that, when “lighted”, vaporizes a liquid containing chemicals used to create a specific flavor, and usually nicotine. Thus, in theory, the smoker should be able to enjoy the feel and look of smoking a cigarette and the addictive chemical nicotine without putting him or herself in the way of the same health risks that come along with smoking tobacco.
According to The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, “tobacco use is the single most preventable cause of death in The United States.” Smoking accounts for about 1 in 5 deaths in the US every year, and is responsible for 90% of all lung cancer deaths in men, and 80% of all lung cancer deaths in women. Traditional cigarettes contain around six hundred ingredients; roughly seventy of the ingredients found in cigarettes are known to cause cancer. Tobacco smoke is also known to cause cancer in those who regularly inhale it secondhand, and further causes complications in pregnancy, which include preterm labor, stillbirth, low birth weight, and birth defects. Smoking also causes various lung diseases, including emphysema and bronchitis, and also leads to coronary heart disease, the leading cause of death in The United States. Despite the health risks involved in smoking, an estimated 19% of all American adults, 18.1% of American high school students, and 4.3% of American middle school students were active cigarette smokers in the year 2011.
Because nicotine is the only substance that causes an addiction to cigarettes in smokers, smoking cessation often includes nicotine replacement products which give the smoker the chance to gradually overcome nicotine dependence without having continued exposure to the other harmful chemicals in cigarettes. Some of these replacements include the nicotine supplements such as the skin patch, gum, an inhaler, lozenges, or a nasal spray, most of which give off varying levels of nicotine depending on the individual’s dependence level. These products do not give the same oral satisfaction of smoking a cigarette for recovering addicts, however, so electronic cigarettes appear to be a viable option at first glance.
Electronic cigarettes, though not originally intended to be used as a smoking cessation tool, appear to be promising as a potential future option for those who wish to quit smoking but do not wish to immediately stop the habit of smoking. They are also a good option for those do not want to continue exposing themselves to the health risks associated with using cigarettes.
Electronic cigarettes, however, have not been extensively researched by the FDA, and therefore have unknown health consequences for regular users. The amount of vaporized nicotine inhaled when a person uses an electronic cigarette varies puff for puff, so regulatory agencies are unsure as to whether or not the highly concentrated nicotine levels are safe for regular use. Electronic cigarettes also contain chemicals meant to give off a certain flavor when “smoked” and it is unclear as to what effects these chemicals have on the human body.
Health experts are also concerned that electronic cigarettes could possibly be used as a gateway product for non-smokers rather than a cessation tool for smokers, though statistics show that the majority of electronic cigarette users had already been regular smokers of standard tobacco cigarettes.
Furthermore, a study done by The University of Auckland in New Zealand performed a randomized study in which researchers aimed to determine whether or not electronic cigarettes were more effective in helping smokers during the process of quitting the use of tobacco products. When the results were collected, 7.3% of nicotine filled electronic cigarette users, 5.8% of nicotine patch users, and 4.1% of nicotine free electronic cigarette users were able to refrain from using any form of tobacco product throughout the duration of the study. The nicotine-filled electronic cigarettes were more effective, but only by a slight margin. More extensive research by federal regulatory agencies will be necessary in determining whether or not electronic cigarettes are as effective and safe as other nicotine replacement therapies.
When asked if he would have used electronic cigarettes to help his quitting process, Matthew Beil, a former smoker and an alumnus of the university, replied “No, I would not smoke e-cigs”. Beil further explained that he had quit smoking at the age of 21 stating, “I had started smoking unfiltered full flavored cigarettes and realized that if I didn’t stop, I would become further addicted and it would impair my health.”
In response to a question concerning his experience when quitting cigarettes, Beil stated: “The first two weeks gave me some trouble, but I didn’t come to have a serious dependency on cigarettes or have too much trouble quitting. I really just put my foot down and said ‘no more’.”
While the smoking cessation process is different for each person and varies depending on factors such as a person’s number of years smoking, level of dependence on tobacco, and number of cigarettes smoked per day, tried and true methods of quitting are still just as effective, no matter how difficult quitting may be for a particular person.
Because electronic cigarettes do not contain tobacco, they are left unregulated by national tobacco laws. Therefore, there is no age limit set to determine who may buy electronic cigarettes. Many youths are finding it easier and easier to purchase electronic cigarettes, if not in person, then through online shopping. The absence of regulatory laws has made electronic cigarettes become increasingly popular with middle school students.
Those who consider the use of electronic cigarettes by middle school aged children to be more of a positive outcome argue that the tobacco free electronic cigarettes are a safer option than traditional cancer causing cigarettes, especially when the users are at an age where peer pressure so heavily influences their decision making process.
However, those who consider the use of electronic cigarettes by middle school aged children to be more of a negative outcome argue that electronic cigarettes, particularly ones filled with nicotine, get children addicted to smoking at a young age by a product that is not regulated by tobacco laws. Parents therefore find it more difficult to keep their middle school aged children away from these products, and the use of electronic cigarettes and eventual nicotine addiction that comes with this use could lead to the smoking of traditional tobacco products in the future.
Regardless of one’s position on the issue, these products still remain heavily unstudied by agencies such as the FDA, so it is difficult to determine any effects that electronic cigarettes have on the human body both long and short term. As there is relatively little information on electronic cigarettes compared to the information available concerning traditional tobacco cigarettes, one should weigh all options carefully and thoroughly examine the available information on this product before making the decision to use it.
