Point/Counterpoint: E-cigarettes

Rachel Allen
rallen19@uwyo.edu

You’ve seen them on campus. The “cool kids” always have them in different colors and designs, like Bic lighters. People use them as they’re leaned up against something. White rings fill the air, sometimes followed by the subtle scene of oranges or artificial watermelon. E-cigs.

An e-cig is an electronic cigarette, a substitution for nicotine and tar. Usage is typically called “vaping” due to the use of aerosol or water vapor, instead of smoke. Some e-cigs don’t totally eliminate nicotine content, but the percentage is diluted and content per milligram can be controlled. These electronic gadgets simulate the sensation of smoking and they’re much less harmful to users and bystanders. Some e-cigs contain no nicotine whatsoever, and they’re purely for visual effect and flavor.

By comparison, tobacco cigarettes are like Freddy Krueger standing next to a twenty-one year old Johnny Depp. The number of chemicals in one average white and orange cigarette is enough to fill a small dictionary. The addictiveness forms lifelong habits, and not having a cigarette for a certain period of time causes serious withdrawal symptoms. According to WebMD, of the 7,000 chemicals produced by a normal cigarette, 69 of them cause cancer in smokers. I’m not even going to get started on the cost of multiple packs per month as compared to a standard e-cig refill.

The old Camel commercials showed off the “glamour” of smoking. They made smokers look cool and mysterious and portrayed how smoking could make you popular. In a popular marketing ploy, celebrities and billionaires were shown taking a drag at a party or some other fancy event, implanting the subliminal message: “if you smoke, you can be rich and famous, too!” Fortunately, the reality is now becoming apparent and advocacy for eradicating tobacco is making itself known. In stark contrast, e-cigs can provide the same image of mystery without the deadly side effects. You can still look cool without taking several years off your life. Not to mention, they smell way better.

If nothing else, e-cigs are a fun party trick that comes in more than 8,000 flavors. From personal experience, I’ve found the vaping community to be social and friendly. Similar to a computer, some e-cigs can be modified, personalized and customized. I have met many people who “vape” recreationally that are more than willing to talk about their mods and what flavors they like most. One flavor that I haven’t tried but want to get my hands on is Taco Bell’s original Baja Blast. It’s hard to find and impossible to duplicate. Probably the best part of e-cigs is that you can get it nicotine free. So don’t judge those who have an e-cig between their fingers instead of a pen on their lunch break. They might just enjoy their afternoon hit of Tiger’s Blood.

While I do believe that as an adult you have the right to make a decision about what you choose to put into your body, it is imperative that you are informed about what exactly it is you are putting into your body and what the negative health effects are. As a result, you would then be able to make an informed decision based off the correct information.

For years now, we have known the addictive and dangerous effects of smoking and if you choose to smoke, you are most likely making an informed decision off of the facts from decades of research.

However, Electronic Cigarettes have not been around along enough for proper research and awareness on their effects to allow most of us to make an informed decision. Currently it is alarming to me, the amount of misinformation and straight up lies that are out there about the health effects of Electronic Cigarettes.

First of all, E-cigarettes are not a healthy alternative to tobacco. They are not a good way to quit smoking and they are most definitely not harmless.

The American Heart Association performed five population studies and found that those who used E-cigarettes to quit smoking are 30 percent less likely to quit smoking than those who used other methods.

Moreover, a study preformed by John Hopkins, analyzed the effects of E-cigarettes vapor on mice and found that it did cause lung damage and several mice even died during the experiment due to vapor related causes.

If you are still not convinced that E-cigarettes are unsafe, know that many of the same harmful carcinogens and chemicals such as formaldehyde and lead, found in cigarette smoke, are found in E-cigarettes vapor as well.

Yet, most alarming to me about the trend toward E-cigarettes is not the health effects alone, but how the public views them. We are told that they are some perfect alternative to tobacco when in fact they are not. This misinformation does not allow adults to make informed decisions let alone kids.

It is clear that E-cigarettes are being marketed toward kids. In some states it is still legal for minors to buy them. Moreover, many youths lack the proper information to make an informed decision.

This supposedly healthy alternative comes in a variety of candy-like flavors, with no stigma attached, but they still contain nicotine, which is a highly addictive substance.

This is the same strategic marketing plan that tobacco companies used for years, get kids hooked when they’re young and they have a customer for life.

So, if as an informed adult you choose to use E-cigarettes, go right head, but know the risk. E-cigarettes are not a safe alternative to tobacco, they do cause health problems and they are highly addictive.

If nothing else, let us all stop acting like these robot cigarettes are perfect. Most of all, we need to treat them like tobacco and stop these companies from marketing them towards kids. We ought to do this if not for the moral reasons, at least to save us the taxpayers, from the healthcare costs that will result from these products down the line.

E-cigarettes are nothing more than the tobacco industry’s latest attempt to rebrand their product as healthy. If it is too good to be true, it probably is.