The popularity of electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) has been rising in recent years among college students and young adults along with the controversy stemming from polarizing reports of its impacts on user health.
As the name suggests, e-cigs are operated electronically, and unlike traditional cigarettes that produce smoke via combustion of tobacco leaves and other harmful chemicals, the “vape” — as it is widely referenced — produces smoke by vaporizing (or vaping) the loaded nicotine fluids. The liquid is often flavored, similar to shisha tobaccos used in hookahs, and can even be purchased without any nicotine.
Over the years, the increasingly booming sales of the device have spawned the opening of many new e-cig stores and lounges in downtowns of major cities in California, including San Diego. A quick stroll down bustling and crowded streets of Pacific Beach offers just one glimpse of its rising popularity. But how much longer can the e-cig business model sustain or increase its margin of profit? Is it just a fad, and if not, will it be vying to exert the same level of control and influence on America’s youth as traditional cigarettes once did or still do? How will its regulation affect its desirability, and how soon will the regulations be put in effect?
The proponents of the device often cite its effectiveness in curbing regular smokers’ addiction to nicotine with controlled and moderate use. A recent study featured in “The Boston Globe” substantiates this claim on the condition that the measure is only valid for those actively seeking to quit and as a relatively healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes. If offered the choice, would it not make sense to pursue the lesser of the two evils?
Its opponents, on the other hand, highlight the prospect of its overuse in developing an even more severe nicotine addiction. Furthermore, the adverse effects of e-cigs on one’s cardiovascular network still remain widely unknown — no significant longitudinal studies yet — as its critics continue to search for a concrete answer. Although some recently conducted studies confirm some of these suspicions — increased addiction to nicotine may indeed be tied to vaping, and that the excessive inhalation of smoke, vaporized or not, could only entail physical harm — more substantial studies are needed for more thorough discussions.
Clearly, all the issues raised on the topic lack convincing answers, and it might take a good while until they can be formulated. Even though a sizable amount of studies and reports on e-cigs can be found via a quick web search, the overall findings tend to contradict one another, and none offer a comprehensively accurate, precise, valid and conclusive discussion of vape’s overall physical and psychological impacts on its users.
Often, the studies focus on a small pool of subjects, and understandably so in their efforts to establish a reliable baseline in a mostly unexplored field. Time seems to be the only element hindering the public backlash against the e-cig adoption, and as evidenced by its recent ban in Los Angeles restricting its use on the same level as traditional cigarettes, similar regulations are no doubt poised for an introduction in the near future in other cities.
