An editorial in the British Medical Journal is weighing in on the debate over e-cigarettes. While advocates of electronic cigarettes insist that it can help with smoking cessation, it’s detracters believe they threaten to undo all of the progress we’ve made in reducing smoking among the population.
The journal praises New York mayor Michael Bloomberg’s actions of late — as one of his last acts as mayor, he has signed a bill banning the use of e-cigs in public places, following the lead of some states that currently ban e-cigs.
E Cigarettes and adolescents
In september of 2013, the CDC issued a report stating that from 2011-2012, the number of middle and high school students who claim to have used e-cigs at some point more than doubled. To counteract claims that e-cigs can be used as a deterrent to using tobacco products, they note that 75% of high school students who use them smoke tobacco products in tandem with electronic cigarettes.
In recent weeks, the FDA has issued statements promising upcoming regulation of the e-cigareetes.
the controversy ultimately boils down to twtwo this: does the harm ecigarettes help mitate is it outweighed the harm it could potentially inflict on impressionable youth. the lines tend to be a bit blurry. maggie a sophomore in college, moved to another state after her home state of arkansas banned e cigarettes. im a pack a day smoker, so for me the question is whether or not the state demand i inhale something that could ultimately kill me. before she moved, she says she used them to help her ween off of tobacco products, then began diminishing use of the e cigs as well. for now.
In answer to Maggie’s dilemma, opponents would likely point her to a study conducted earlier this year that showed that those who use e cigs to help them quite smoking were less successful f who didn’t use them. In that study ecignarette useers and nonusers who tried to quit smoking showed that after 7 months, 31% of those who didn’t use e-cigs were smoke free, while 21% of those who used the e-cig for cessation were smoke free.
How They Work
Nicotine from e-cigs enter the bloodstream through the cheeks while cigarettes are inhaled into the lungs -Nicotine from cigarettes reach the brain faster, making them more satisfying. The correct term for using e-cigs is “vaping” rather than smoking.
Other studies will be necessary to determine if e-cigarettes will trigger former smokers back to tobacco, or if they could serve as a gateway device for teenagers, turning them into actual smokers.
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