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Electronic cigarettes are known by many different names: e-cigarettes, e-hookahs, vape pens, vapes, tanks, or mods. They come in many different shapes and sizes. Some are a full handheld device while others are the size of a standard cigarette. Yet, each does the exact same thing.
Each is meant to be a substitute for a standard cigarette. This form of technology is fairly new and all the rage among people who enjoy a puff but don’t like the smell, flavor, or social stigma that comes with them. Before you choose to give it a try or choose to make the switch from a traditional cigarette, here are some facts that you should be aware of before the puff.
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1. Better, but not “really” Safe
To understand how safe or dangerous they are, you need to understand how they work. E-cigarette use flavored or non-flavored “juice” that is made up of chemicals and contain properties of nicotine. The device contains coils that will heat the juice up until it becomes an aerosol that the person using the e-cigarette will inhale and then exhale, creating a vapor effect similar to traditional smoke.
While regular cigarettes contain over seven-thousand chemicals in it, the juice used in electronic cigarettes are created with different levels of concentration. This means the consumer can manage how much nicotine they get with each hit. This may seem as a great way to help habitual smokers from getting off of being codependent on the addictive substance. However, with the development of electronic cigarettes, there has also been an increase in lung injuries and associated deaths. As of the beginning of 2020, there have been a total of sixty confirmed deaths related to e-cigarette users.
The CDC has identified that the primary cause of these lung issues and deaths to be associated with the vitamin E acetate, which is a thickening agent and can make the vapor chemicals even more toxic than a normal cigarette.
2. Equally Addictive
Since electronic cigarettes contain nicotine, it is no stretch of the imagination that it will be equally as addictive as normal cigarettes. Consumers are at risk of making their addiction worse, especially if they go to one of the specialty shops where the juice is made to their particular liking. Just as they can decrease the amount to help with getting off nicotine, they can also increase the concentration to get a better hit.
Most states are now setting standards as to how much a person can have in a container of juice based on the size, but these legislations are slow coming as people are also trying to figure out whether or not they want to make the switch.
3. Bad for The Heart and Lungs
Nicotine, which is highly addictive, can make people crave it when they don’t smoke or vape on a regular basis. Without a hit, the addict with begin going through withdrawals that can be just as devastating as the affect of inhaling the actual toxin.
Consuming nicotine has been studied and shown to raise the blood pressure and spike a person’s adrenaline that will make a person feel as though they are having a heart attack.
Apart from these effects, there is still so much that is not known about what long term vaping will do to a person’s system. In particular, there is not enough research to have a clear idea on what effects it has on a person’s lungs. What has been learned is that there is a link between their use and chronic lung disease and asthma that can lead to cardiovascular disease.
4. Not the Best Tool to Quit Smoking
With the ability to control the nicotine levels in the juice that is used in electronic cigarettes, most people believe that this is the best way to get someone off of smoking. The use of patches and gums have been shown to be difficult for those who may want to but find the affects of withdrawal too much to handle.
So, by reducing the amount a little at a time, it will reduce the withdrawal aftermath and make it easier to keep off of them for good, right? Wrong. Just because a person can control the amount and even reduces it doesn’t mean that they are still not under the affects of a person who is smoking regularly.
According to a recent study, people who stated that the purpose of switching was to get off of smoking have found it harder to end as they become accustomed to no longer have the stigma of being a “smoker” placed upon them and are not a sociably ostracized.
5. Easier to Get the Young Ones Hooked
According to electronic cigarettes review and research, this form of tobacco product is very popular among the younger generations. In the US alone, in 2015, the use of e-cigarettes among high school students surged upwards of 900% with close to half being first time tobacco users.
There are three reasons that they are particularly enticing to young people. They are advertised as being less harmful, are cheaper per use than traditional smoking, and are often made with flavors so that they are more palatable.
Another appeal is the lack of the strong smoke smell that traditional cigarettes leave lingering in the areas where they are used and on the people that use them.
