The E-Cig Debate Continues

As if there wasn’t enough controversy after last night’s unreal ending in the Monday Night Football game between the Packers and the Seahawks, the debate continues on whether e-cigarettes are a healthy option to people looking for something to use in place of tobacco cigarettes.  I’ve weighed in on this subject numerous times since starting this website, and I feel that the answer is very clear.  However, my opinion as an every day Joe who smokes electronic cigarettes for a number of reasons doesn’t matter when the government gets down to brass tacks and has to release official clarity on the subject of if these devices are indeed healthier.

I read an article at MyDesert.com that sparked the interest enough for me to take some time off from coding and get back to blogging about e-cigs, something as my loyal folowers know, is my passion.  I’d much rather tell the world of my love for e-cigs than code, that’s for sure.  Hey, e-cigs save me money, which means I do less coding, so it’s obvious!

So, this article talked about the ongoing debate about e-cigarettes.  It talks about the recent Greek Study that presented evidence that says the battery-powered e-cigs may damage the lungs but in research in August it was also reported that e-cigs don’t harm the heart.

Some studies talk about the hazards which just baffled me, like “hazards from second hand vapor.”  As far as I know, the vapor is much less harmful (to me it’s a non-issue and I forget it even exists often times as it vanishes so rapidly) when compared to tobacco cigarettes.  I mean, just light up a tobacco cigarette and see what happens and how long the second hand smoke lingers around. It gets in your clothing, it gets in  your wallpaper, and it remains lingering with your cigarette butts that sit and rot in your ash tray.  To me, that’s just an assinine report that would even suggest that e-cigarette’s second hand smoke could be worse off than that of a tobacco cigarette.  I’m really looking forward to the evidence but doubt anything of substance will be reported.

I can’t argue with some researchers, who in the report purportedly were upset that some children could be addicted to the electronic cigarettes – I really can’t argue with that.  However, if there are safe guards in place (like with tobacco products), minors won’t have access to them.  Problem solved.

The FDA tried, and failed to regulate e-cigarettes as drug delivery devices.  A federal judge ruled in 2010 that it  lacked authority to do so, and a minor victory to e-cigarettes was celebrated by everyone in the industry.  Myself included.  Now, the FDA is moving to regulate the products as tobacco products.  (Which is comical since they don’t contain tobacco.)

Thomas Kiklas of the TVECA (tobacco vapor electronic cigarette assocation) responded to a report that vapor from e-cigs may be harmful by saying “there’s no smoker.  It’s water vapor.  You don’t smell anything.”

Thank you, Thomas.  Couldn’t have said it better myself if given the stage to do so.

An interesting part of the report talked about some people in the medical community were seeing potential benefits in e-cigs, stating “e-cigarettes may hold promise as a smoking-cessation method.”  That quote was from Michael Siegel, Boston University School of public health.  His studies done with two co-workers found that 67% of the 222 smokers used in a study said they smoked less after using the products for six months and a whopping 31% stated they stopped their smoking habit entirely.

Some people want more information about the products, which is understandable. I would like to know more about them and potential long term issues.  For now, however, I’m a firm believer, and living proof, that they are more accepted in areas I frequent than tobacco products.  Try smoking cigarettes around 65 year old parents who loathe smoking.  You’ll anger them in a New York minute.  Try an e-cig, and they won’t even know.

I do this for a living, and will be back soon with more thoughts on electronic cigarettes.