Jeffrey Chan

Malcolm Campbell

English 1104

1 April 2017

Electronic Cigarettes: A Safer Alternative to Traditional Cigarettes Commented [kc1]: Should be bolded and underlined.

Every year cigarettes claim more than 480,000 lives per year whereas there has never Commented [kc2]: Source?

been a medically documented death related to the use of electronic cigarettes. Electronic

cigarettes have recently started to gain popularity in our society. More and more people are

starting to stray away from traditional cigarettes and beginning to use electronic cigarettes.

Although electronic cigarette usage is picking up momentum, it is still not socially acceptable to

use them in public. Smoking cigarettes has become normalized in our society so that when

people see others smoking a cigarette outside, they dont think much of it. On the contrary, if

people saw someone using an electronic cigarette outside, they like to think of them negatively

and often say negative remarks about them. Because the electronic cigarette is currently such a

heavily debated topic, it is vital that we ask ourselves one main question, are electronic

cigarettes actually safe, or are they just another bad trend that our society has accepted?

In order to know if electronic are actually safe, we need to understand what they are Commented [kc3]: electronic cigarettes

and how they work. Electronic cigarettes are battery powered devices that warm up coils inside

an atomizer to temperatures so hot that it turns the liquid inside into an aerosol form that the

user then inhales. The vaporized liquid that the user is inhaling often contain four main

ingredients which are nicotine, flavoring, propylene glycol, and vegetable glycerin. While this is

a very textbook definition of how electronic cigarettes work, almost all electronic cigarettes
revolve around this basic concept. There are currently thousands of different electronic

cigarette products ranging from batteries, modular devices, atomizers, coils, wicks, juice, and

other miscellaneous items. Since the introduction of electronic cigarettes to the public, there

has been countless contradicting studies about exactly how safe they are to use.

On the anti-electronic cigarette side of the debate, the American Lung Association Commented [kc4]: Good inclusion of a source without
compromising your point.
believes that, E-cigarettes are a tobacco product and that in order to quit smoking, users

should seek other alternatives such as their Quitters circle and Freedom from Smoking

program. The American Lung Association urges current smokers that are trying to quit smoking

to talk to their doctors because they can be a key resource if utilized correctly. The doctor can

help with many of the symptoms that users get when they initially quit smoking cigarettes. This

usually includes urges to smoke, depressed mood, difficulty sleeping, anxiety, and a whole slew

of other symptoms (quit.org). Doctors can help with many of these symptoms by prescribing

the patient with drugs such as Varenicline and bupropion. Varenicline is a prescription drug that Commented [kc5]: Capitalize?

helps people quit smoking by working on two levels, it works by interfering with the nicotine

receptors inside the brain and then neutralizes the effects of nicotine. Users wont be able to Commented [kc6]: Source?

get the initial kick of pleasure coming the release of endorphins when they smoke a cigarette.

In addition, users also wont be able to get the buzz from a nicotine rush when they smoke. All

of the supposed benefits from smoking cigarettes have now been rendered useless therefore

making users less inclined to smoke a cigarette since it is pointless to do so. Bupropion is a

norepinephrine dopamine reuptake inhibitor, this means that it blocks the absorption of

norepinephrine and dopamine in the brain. It works similarly to Varenicline by not allowing the
user to get the pleasure of smoking a cigarette. Although Bupropion has been proven to help

with smoking cessation, the exact reason as to why it helps users quit is still unknown.

Another argument that many anti-electronic cigarette critics bring up is the rising trend

of underage electronic cigarette usage. The U.S Surgeon General issued a groundbreaking

report called E-Cigarette Use Among Youth and Young Adults. This report stated that E-

cigarettes are now the most commonly used tobacco product among youth in the United

States. Children should neither have access to any form of tobacco product nor be exposed to

second hand usage from both electronic cigarettes and traditional cigarettes. A study showed

that roughly 25.3% of all high school teens are using any forms of tobacco and from the same

graph, 16% of high school teens are current electronic cigarette users (cdc data chart). Commented [kc7]: Should be capitalized.

Underage electronic cigarette usage should be stopped immediately because of the

many health hazards nicotine imposes. The development of the human brain begins from the

moment someone is born until they are roughly 25 years old. During that time, if the brain is

exposed to any type of harmful chemical, such a nicotine, the childs brain may not fully

develop. Exposure to nicotine can harm brain development and therefore cause many physical

and mental health risks. Because some teens are introducing nicotine into their lives at such a

young age, it may develop into a lifelong habit. Nicotine has also been proven to affect

maternal and fetal health during pregnancy, and may result in low birth weights, early delivery

and even stillbirth (lung.org reference).

Apart from the harmful effects of nicotine, researchers have found a few potentially

harmful ingredients inside e-liquid. The three main potentially dangerous chemicals researchers

have found inside e-liquids are diacetyl, acetyl propionyl, and acetoin. Diacetyl is a chemical
that is used in e-liquid for flavoring, it has a taste that is similar to butter and is commonly used

in dessert flavored e-liquids. Diacetyl was found to be potentially dangerous because it has

been found to be associated with a disease called popcorn lung. Popcorn lung is the scarring

of the sacs inside the lung called the alveoli, which in turn thickens and narrows the airways and

often causes coughing, wheezing, and shortness of breath. Acetyl propionyl and acetoin are

commonly used for a wider range of flavors such as strawberry and butterscotch. Exposure to

these chemicals have been tested on rats and researchers found out that when exposed to

these two chemicals for a long period of time, the rats developed airway fibrosis (Morgan et al.

2012).

On the contrary, there are many studies which show that electronic cigarettes are a

much safer alternative compared to traditional cigarettes. One study from Dr. Konstantinos E. Commented [kc8]: I like how you show both sides of the
argument through showing studies that oppose the results
of the previous ones you stated.
Farsalinos and Dr. Riccardo Polosa stated that Current available evidence indicates that

electronic cigarettes are by far a less harmful alternative to smoking and significant health

benefits are expected in smokers who switch from tobacco to electronic cigarettes. They

believe that electronic cigarettes are dangerous, but not as dangerous as traditional cigarettes

because there is no combustion involved in using electronic cigarettes. Combustion of tobacco

and the other additives that are added in cigarettes is a lot more dangerous than using

electronic cigarettes. There are many known carcinogenic compounds that are found in

traditional cigarettes however all the supposedly carcinogenic compounds found in electronic

cigarettes are still up for debate because of the improper way of testing for data.
 In addition to Dr. Farsalinos and Dr. Riccardos study, another study titled E-cigarettes

around 95% less harmful than tobacco estimates landmark review claimed that

electronic cigarettes are 95% safer than traditional cigarettes and that nearly half of the

population, 44.8%, didnt realize that electronic cigarettes are a much safer alternative to

traditional cigarettes. This study also stated that there is currently no evidence that proves

electronic cigarettes usage is linked to people smoking cigarettes as they get older. Because the

public isnt very well educated on electronic cigarettes, many people still believe that electronic

cigarettes are either just as bad, if not worse for you. The researchers conducted a survey

where they asked people whether electronic cigarettes are equally or more harmful than

smoking, the results were that 22.1% of participants thought electronic cigarettes were either

just as harmful if not worse than traditional cigarettes (ASH Smokefree GB survey). Another

similar study called the Criterion validity of measures of perceived relative harm of e-cigarettes

and smokeless tobacco compared to cigarettes, also tested the publics perception to the

amount of harm from smokeless tobacco and electronic cigarettes compared to traditional

cigarettes. In order to conduct a study that accurately represented the general population, the

researchers gathered people to take a survey that measured direct and indirect perceptions of

harm. The survey had five main choices which were much less harmful, less harmful, just as

harmful, more harmful, and much more harmful. In order to stray from bias, the researchers

used direct and indirect questions, for example, when being direct, the researchers asked,

compared to smoking cigarettes, would you say that electronic cigarettes are. . .. When the

researchers were being indirect, they asked questions that were broader without a direct

comparison such as, how harmful do you think each of the following is to a persons health?
The study concluded that only 26% of adults when asked directly, rated electronic cigarettes as

less harmful than traditional cigarettes. This study proved how a great percentage of the adult

population, around 74%, have the incorrect perception about electronic cigarettes thus causing

many people to stray from using electronic cigarettes as a mean of quitting.

New studies and experiments have proven that electronic cigarette usage has one of the

highest successful rates of quitting cigarettes out of all the forms of smoking cessation tools.

Professor Kevin Fenton, Director of Health and Wellbeing at Public Health English said E-

cigarettes are not completely risk free but when compared to smoking, evidence shows they

carry just a fraction of the harm. The problem is that people increasingly think they are at least

as harmful and this may be keeping millions of smokers from quitting. Local stop smoking

services should look to support e-cigarette users in their journey to quitting completely.

Professor Fentons statement speaks in volume because there have been many studies

conducted which all augments his claim. Although electronic cigarette advocates have been

trying to let the public know that electronic cigarettes have been proven to be safer than

cigarettes, their efforts usually end up in vain because big and powerful companies such as Big

Tobacco, Big Pharma, and the FDA tries their hardest to shut them down.

The electronic cigarette industry has been hit with many hardships such as unjustifiable

taxes and complete bans on devices e-liquids. One of the most detrimental laws for the

electronic cigarette industry has been the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control

Act. This law was set in motion on August 8, 2016 and stated that the Food & Drug

Administration will take vapor products under their jurisdiction and regulate all products

related to electronic cigarettes, this contains items such as batteries, electronic devices, e-
liquid, and many other miscellaneous items. There was also a freeze placed on all products

currently on the market, this means that no new devices can be sold. If this law isnt repealed, it

will ban all the products that have not been introduced to the electronic cigarette market

before February 15, 2007. Because more than 99% of vapor products that current users are

using arent from way back then, the electronic cigarette industry will ultimately fail.

In addition to the current freeze on the market, many states are starting to impose a

unjustifiable tax on e-cigarettes. Pennsylvanias 40% tax on anything related to electronic

cigarettes is currently under heavy debate because not only is a 40% tax extremely high, it

makes business owners unable to run their store; they would be selling their products at a loss.

To add fuel to the flame, Pennsylvania has also made it illegal to even possess items related to

the electronic cigarette industry from another state. Under section 1207-(A) of Pennsylvania

state law, the ownership of a of any vape device or e-liquid that wasnt bought from a licensed

Pennsylvania dealer is illegal and will result of a fine up to $5,000 or prison time not to exceed

five years. Because of immoral and unjustifiable taxes like these which essentially aim to

destroy the electronic cigarette industry, many electronic cigarette advocates are starting to

rebel and voice their opinions.

After people have examined the research that has been done on electronic cigarettes,

they realized that many of the studies werent exactly accurate, misrepresented data, and were

tested under extreme conditions. Most of the studies that puts electronic cigarettes in a

negative spotlight are funded by companies that would benefit from people staying away from

electronic cigarettes. These companies usually include Big Tobacco, Big Pharma, and the FDA,

they have virtually no limitations on funding and have been known to pay researchers to
conduct misleading studies. Elisa K. Tong, an assistant professor at UC Davis stated that people

should understand how hard the tobacco industry has worked to undermine scientific

evidence. In a nutshell, the tobacco industry and the government earn too much money from Commented [kc9]: Maybe instead of nutshell, maybe say
something along the lines of, In my opinion
taxes and profits to be willing to sacrifice that kind of money for public health.

Electronic cigarettes may be the one and only highly successful smoking cessation tool

ever invented. Although it is a very a good resource to use to quit smoking, it is up to the

people to become more educated about the health benefits an electronic cigarette offers over

a traditional cigarette. The electronic cigarette was invented to be used as a smoking cessation

tool and even though teenage electronic cigarette usage rate is currently at its highest,

teenage smoking rates are at its lowest. It is essentially a tradeoff that although more

teenagers are using electronic cigarettes, there are less teenagers smoking traditional

cigarettes. Without the people rebelling against heinous companies such as Big Tobacco, Big

Pharma, and the FDA, that try to keep their customers as addicted as possible and paying off

researchers to conduct rigged experiments, the disappearance of electronic cigarettes will be

inevitable.

Despite the negative outlook on electronic cigarettes, they are still a healthier

alternative to traditional cigarettes. Harm reduction isnt a synonym for risk-free; even though

electronic cigarettes can possibly still offer small amounts of harm, it is only a fraction to the

amount of harm that a traditional cigarette will offer. Tobacco is the leading preventable cause

of death in the United States, with over 480,000 deaths every year. Electronic cigarettes can

help reduce that number by a great deal but it first needs to be put in a positive spotlight.
http://www.quit.org.au/about/frequently-asked-questions/faq-smoking-withdrawal/faq-

withdrawal-symptoms.html

http://www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/e-cigarettes-and-lung-health.html
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16109583 (bupropion)

https://www.verywell.com/how-chantix-works-2825340

https://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/

https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/15-10185/ (diacetyl)

https://www.cdc.gov/niosh/topics/flavorings/exposure.html (acetyl propionyl) // inquote

reference rat // diacetyl as well

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4110871/ (farsalinos)

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/e-cigarettes-around-95-less-harmful-than-tobacco-

estimates-landmark-review (smokefree gb survey)

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/fast_facts/ Commented [kc10]: MLA format?