What is the deal with Electronic Cigarettes?

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.