Are Electronic Cigarettes a Safe Smoking Substitution?
E-Cigarettes are still a pretty controversial subject – particularly when it comes to safety. Here’s where things are at when it comes to health risks.
There is still a lot of disagreement on whether or not electronic cigarettes are a safer alternative to traditional cigarettes.
You seem to get a different answer from everyone you ask and no matter where you turn facts are clouded by opinion.
What type?
There are several different kinds of electronic cigarettes on the market.
Some electronic cigarettes are designed to look just like traditional cigarettes. Many even have a LED light at the end that glows like the burning ember on a traditional cigarette when the user inhales.
Other electronic cigarettes are designed to look more like pens and are called vape pens or vaporizers. These tend to make much larger clouds of vapor than other electronic cigarettes.
Electronic cigarettes all essentially function the same way:
- The user inhales on the mouthpiece.
- This triggers the liquid — a mixture of nicotine, flavoring, water, and various other chemicals — in a replaceable or refillable cartridge to be heated.
- The atomizer turns the liquid into a vapor after it is heated.
- The user then inhales the vapor, which feels just like smoking a traditional cigarette.
- When the user exhales, the vapor dissipates quickly.
What’s your goal?
Are you using electronic cigarettes as a crutch to help you quit smoking altogether?
Or are you hoping to switch over from cigarettes to electronic cigarettes indefinitely?
It is still debated whether or not using electronic cigarettes will help you quit smoking.
They still contain nicotine, which is the addictive component of cigarettes, and because of this many doctors and organizations such as the American Lung Association does not support the use of electronic cigarettes to help quit smoking.
Instead, they recommend options like patches, gum, or lozenges.
However, many maintain that the key to using electronic cigarettes to quit smoking is to simply wean yourself off a nicotine dependence by slowly reducing the amount of nicotine you use.
Some people aren’t concerned with the health concerns around electronic cigarettes and are simply looking for a more attractive alternative to traditional cigarettes.
Many electronic cigarette brands are popular for different available flavors.
This makes electronic cigarettes much more desirable than traditional cigarettes and turns them into more of a hobby than anything.
The American Lung Association reports that there are nearly 500 brands and 7,700 flavors of electronic cigarettes currently available.
Is better good enough?
Since electronic cigarettes still contain nicotine and other chemicals, it is thought by many that they can’t exactly be called “healthy.”
However, no one is arguing that they are certainly healthier than traditional cigarettes which contain over 4000 compounds that create tar when smoking. This tar coats the lungs and has been blamed for many smoking-related diseases and cancers.
The Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association (TVECA) insists that electronic cigarettes are not detrimental to health and are in fact a safe alternative to smoking traditional cigarettes.
Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and much like traditional cigarettes, it is the main ingredient in electronic cigarettes.
With that in mind, it is still possible to get hooked on electronic cigarettes.
There is no definitive answer yet as to whether or not electronic cigarettes are harmful or not.
You’ll get a different answer from everyone you ask, but if you know how they work, you can make the best decision for yourself.
