Everyone that has started to smoke sometime in their life, at some point wants to quit. There are several alternatives on the market including gum and recently popular in media culture, the electronic cigarette. Johnny Depp used one in his role in The Tourist with Angelina Jolie. This week, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it will act to ensure the government’s right to impose marketing, manufacturing and safety restrictions on such devices, similar to the rules related to the real thing.
Tobacco is a multi-billion dollar a year industry, and not only does it kill about 5,000,000 people each and every year, there are few products that offer pleasant, “satisfying,” and tasty tobacco alternatives. There are however non-addictive alternatives to high dangerous and addictive tobacco products. In addition, these organic products may have the added benefit of helping persons relax, and enhance cognitive abilities, unlike tobacco.
What are tobacco alternatives? Simply stated, tobacco alternatives are herbs or herbal blends which are smoked instead of tobacco. With all the questions concerning the environmental impact of tobacco farming, the health care costs related to tobacco use, the addictive properties of nicotine, and the tobacco industry’s manipulation of tobacco chemicals; use of tobacco alternatives have become more and more widespread.
In regards to cigarette avatars, Dr. Lawrence R. Deyton, director of the FDA’s Center for Tobacco Products said the agency will act to regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products. To shore up its authority to do so, the agency will propose new regulatory language that would specifically define e-cigarettes as a tobacco product.
Electronic cigarettes boast of no carcinogens, no cigarette butts, no second hand smoke, no smelly cars and homes and restaurants, no yellow teeth and no tobacco. Statistically an estimated 25.6 million men (25.2%) and 22.6 million women (20.7%) of persons living in the United States are smokers, says the American Heart Association. Smokers are pilloried for smoking tobacco. They struggle with the social and health stigmas associated with their smoking habits.
E-Cigarettes claim to be the all new electronic smoking alternative that looks and feels just like a cigarette, but instead of burning tobacco and producing smoke, it vaporizes a nicotine liquid called e-liquid into a tar free, and odorless vapor.
The vapor is exactly like smoke and is produced automatically during every puff of the electronic cigarette. It does this using an airflow sensor that detects every drag of the e-cigarette. Once activated, a red led light at the end gradually starts to glow reddish orange to resemble the look and experience of smoking a real cigarette. The electronic cigarette experience is so close and identical to the real thing that many smokers make the switch after the first try.
Electronic cigarettes are tar free, odorless, do not produce smoke, second hand smoke, or carbon monoxide. They never have to be lit, they do not produce cigarette butts or ash, they will not smell up a house or car, and they greatly reduce the risk of fire. They can save a substantial amount of money when compared to buying traditional packs because only refillable cartridges are purchased which are much cheaper overall.
These “E-Cigarettes” can be smoked just about anywhere and one can even choose the desired level of nicotine delivery. Electronic cigarettes are becoming more and more popular every day within the smoking community and are becoming known as a highly accepted, smoker approved, alternative to tobacco.
One of the main benefits of the electronic cigarette is that it does not produce second-hand smoke. Instead of smoke it produces a tar free and odorless nicotine vapor. Real cigarettes ignite and burn plant matter such as tobacco leaves along with paper and other chemicals. When smoke is produced by burning tobacco leaves, carbon monoxide is also produced. Carbon monoxide hinders the ability of the blood to carry oxygen when inhaled. Inhaling smoke, no matter the substance, is bad for you. When you combine the 4000+ chemicals that are found in cigarettes the long term effects have proved to be devastating.
Recently, a study in the American Journal of Preventative Medicine took a hard look at e-cigs. The study measured electronic cigarettes’ effectiveness as a cessation technique. Researchers at Boston University sent surveys to 5,000 people who had bought e-cigarettes. Of the 216 qualified respondents (mostly male, lifetime-smokers who had tried to quit in the past), nearly 70% replied that they’d cut down on the number of cigarettes they smoked after six months, and 30% said they’d quit.
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Written by Sy Kraft