What are
e-cigarettes?
E-cigarettes or electronic cigarettes are
battery-operated devices designed to look like, and be used in the same way as,
tobacco cigarettes. E-cigarettes are
sold online and in shopping malls, and contain refillable cartridges filled
with nicotine, flavor, and other chemicals. A battery in them heats a filament
that turns liquid nicotine and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by
the user. Students have referred to
using e-cigarettes as “vaping.”
Electronic cigarettes are “no-smoke tobacco” devices that are
unregulated in the US at this time.
Are they
safe to use?
Electronic cigarette manufacturers are making sweeping
claims that their products are a safe alternative to tobacco cigarettes, but
they do not have any research to prove it.
To the contrary, preliminary research by the FDA from 2009 determined
that e-cigarettes may contain ingredients that are known to be toxic and cancer-causing.
Do you get
the same feeling that you get from smoking tobacco?
According to research conducted at Virginia
Commonwealth University, e-cigarettes do not provide effective nicotine
delivery and may not satisfy the urge to smoke.
The study stated that differences in product design and the way
e-cigarettes are smoked may influence this.
Can
they help you quit smoking?
Some manufacturers are marketing e-cigarettes as quit
smoking aids. However, electronic
cigarettes are not a proven nicotine replacement therapy (like nicotine
patches, gum and lozenges) and do not contain any health warning comparable to
FDA-approved nicotine replacement products.
It is recommended that research be done to test their effectiveness for
smoking cessation before consumers use them for this purpose.
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