I did it. I shouldn't have done it, but I clicked the article and I read it. And as usual, it made me mad, and inspired a rant, just as these articles always make my blood boil and make me want to climb on a soapbox and use a bullhorn, or fling poo at the CDC, the FDA, AMA and AHA.
So here is the dissection, the doctrinaires in regular text, me in
RED.
Neither smoking nor vaping is beneficial to human health.
(Except when vaping delivers a smoker from a horrible killing addiction). Based on the available evidence, smoking appears more harmful than vaping.
(duh) However, this does not mean that vaping is safe.
Secondhand smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals. Hundreds of these chemicals are toxic, and around 70 cause cancer. The AHA notes that while vaping liquids contain fewer contaminants than cigarettes, they are not entirely safe.
We KNOW that. It is to quit smoking quit smoking quit smoking. It is not to sell to kiddies. It is not allowed to be sold to kiddies. It is not sold in toy stores or candy stores.
Vaping
People who vape may be at risk of harm for the following reasons:
E-cigarettes can contain a large dose of nicotine, a substance known to slow the development of brains in fetuses, children, and teens.
Nobody has ever proven that to me. There used to be studies you could look up on the net which showed that the people born to smoking mothers ended up very resistant to cancer, heart disease and stroke, studies which have been scrubbed from the net. I am not advocating smoking to expectant mothers or to anyone, but NOBODY HAS PROVEN to me the nicotine harm to a fetus.
The liquid that creates the vapor is dangerous to adults and children if they swallow, inhale, or get it on their skin.
"If they swallow, inhale or get it on their skin." That makes vaping liquids sound like sulfuric acid or something. No it isn't dangerous to swallow and if we think of all the times we've had it on our skin we know that is bunk, unless it is with a super high nic concentrate.
Vaping also delivers dangerous chemicals, including diacetyl, cancer-causing chemicals, heavy metals, and volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
I guess the old diacetyl bogey isn't going away, like the old anti-freeze bogey.
Vaping may normalize smoking again as it becomes more popular.
Whut?
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), by early 2020, there had been around 2,800 hospitalizations or deaths total with 68 of those confirmed deaths from vaping.
That is not a clear statement. 2,800 hospitalizations or deaths total. Which was it, hospitalizations, or deaths, and 2,800 from what cause(s)? 68 deaths from vaping. What were they vaping? NEEDS CITATION, not to mention, needs clarification of what the heck is being said.
However, the CDC also acknowledges that since the removal of vitamin E acetate from vaping products, along with other harmful ingredients, the number of symptoms that people experience from vaping declined.
The vitamin E should NEVER have been in eliquids, and was never offered in any vape shop or by any reputable online vape seller. It was a black market concoction sold in nightclubs and on the street.
Smoking
Unlike vaping, which is relatively new, there are years of research to fully back up claims that smoking is damaging to human health. According to the CDC, smoking causes:
damage to every organ in the body
more than 480,000 deaths a year in the United States
90% of all lung cancer deaths
about 80% of deaths from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD)
an increased risk of death
an increased risk of developing health conditions, such as heart disease and stroke.
Long-term effects of smoking
Smoking has many long-term adverse effects on the body. The CDC reports that smoking:
reduces sperm count
increases the risk of pregnancy loss or congenital disabilities
increases the risk of cataracts
impairs immune system function
increases general inflammation
can cause cancer in nearly any part of the body, including the lungs, kidneys, and stomach
triggers asthma attacks
causes blockages in the veins and arteries
increases the risk of a stroke
Long-term effects of vaping
Research generally accepts that while vaping can harm the lungs and other bodily systems, its impact is much less than tobacco smoking.
"Vaping can harm the lungs and other bodily systems...": very blanket, specious, unqualified statement, easy to fling out if you're uninformed and trying to induce fear. After all, just above that, they just got through saying "Unlike vaping, which is relatively new, there are years of research to fully back up claims that smoking is damaging to human health."
However, a 2019 study into the long-term health effects of vaping found that people using e-cigarettes had a higher risk of respiratory disease than people who never smoked.
Another study of mice vaping?
Vaping may:
damage the lungs
depends on what is in the liquid
release free radicals, which promote cancer development, into the body
depends on what is in the liquid
weaken the immune system
whut?
delay brain development in fetuses, children, and teenagers
I really dunno about that one
Some people also report sustaining burns when recharging e-cigarettes due to defective batteries leading to explosions
THAT is blaming vaping for problems with lithium ion batteries. Batteries, not vaping, need safety attention. Battery explosions have occurred in laptops, cell phones and other devices. And no comparison is made to a house burned down from cigarette smoking in bed.
Quitting smoking and vaping
Health services in the United Kingdom recommend that vaping can be an effective tool for quitting smoking. Additionally, in 2021, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) permitted the marketing of three e-cigarette products, specifically citing their potential benefit in helping people quit smoking.
Yay for the UK
Boo for the FDA bringing it down to three products, but the FDA always does what it is paid (bribed) to do.
However, the CDC states that there is insufficient evidence to suggest vaping can help people quit smoking.
There is insufficient evidence that the CDC is anything more than a shill operation of the pharmaceutical industry whose ex-employees make up its ranks, the same pharmaceutical industry whose smoking cessation products don't work.
Using vapes to quit smoking
A 2021 study found that daily e-cigarette usage among tobacco smokers can increase the likelihood of quitting smoking by eightfold. Researchers assessed data from the 2014–2019 Population Assessment of Tobacco and Health (PATH) study, focusing on smokers who were not planning to quit smoking at the start of the period.
Oh, are we really allowing some positive outcomes here? Unbelievable, but buried under the mountain of BS.
At the end of the survey, 28% of smokers using e-cigarettes daily had ceased smoking tobacco altogether, while 45.5% had ceased smoking tobacco daily.
However, researchers found that only daily e-cigarette use had a statistically significant effect on smoking cessation rates.
Well it's the scam medical "industry" that scolds against daily vaping.
Of the participants who were not using e-cigarettes, only 5.8% had quit smoking altogether by the end of the survey, while 9.9% had stopped smoking daily.
I can maybe believe the 5.8% but I have my doubts about the 9.9%.
Meanwhile, people who were smoking e-cigarettes non-daily had a 3.1% rate of quitting smoking and a 10.2% rate of cutting down to non-daily tobacco smoking.
There's a lot in that sentence:
-Some people will use an e-cigarette in places where they can't smoke, without intending to quit smoking.
-Dual use. It often takes smokers some time to entirely leave cigarettes behind.
and
-"smoking e-cigarettes": ignorant language regarding the non-combustion vapor device indicates a real lack of curiosity and diligence.
A 2019 randomized control study also found that daily e-cigarette use leads to an almost doubled rate of smoking abstinence than other nicotine-replacement products after one year.
Good, good.
Addictive properties of smoking and vaping
Nicotine is highly addictive.
So what! So is caffeine.
The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) states that around half of all smokers try to quit every year, while only 6% manage to do so.
Maybe if the medical industry said more encouraging things about vaping, more smokers would use vaping to quit cigarettes.
A 2019 study suggests that nicotine-containing e-cigarettes may have a higher addiction potential than standard cigarettes among young adults.
Really, if I had a kid who vaped, and could pay for it himself, I wouldn't care. I would object fiercely if I had a kid who took up smoking.
Researchers noted that study participants using both types of cigarettes had a higher nicotine dependence in relation to e-cigarettes.
I dunno about that because I don't think any serious studies have been done to show the difference in nicotine uptake between smoking and vaping.
However, nicotine alone is relatively harmless, and switching from daily tobacco smoking to daily e-cigarette use can be an important step for people to stop smoking completely.
Good! Yay, we're capable of some critical thinking.
Vaping vs. smoking w*****d
Blotted out the portion of the article with cannabannanabis references due to forum rules. No fun today for censoring mods.
Summary
Vaping and smoking share similar negative effects on the body, such as damage to the lungs and increased cancer risk.
BS BS BS BS BS
Researchers know more about the long-term effects of smoking than those of vaping.
But they'll never admit their ignorance, nor ever really want to explore the real differences.
However, vaping products contain a great deal fewer harmful chemicals than cigarettes and can be an effective tool in quitting smoking altogether.
Omygawd they really said it. They said it.
However, while vape products can reduce the amount of tar and other chemicals a person inhales, they can increase a person’s nicotine dependency.
Pfffft. Do they worry about caffeine addiction? The effects are about the same.
Last medically reviewed on April 24, 2022
Medically reviewed by Fred Aleskerov, MD — Written by Jenna Fletcher — Updated on April 24, 2022
So I will conclude my rant by saying that the safety issues are homemade mods with stacked batteries, and letting even your regulated device bang against your keys and coins in the front seat of the car, or using inappropriate re-charging methods. I will admit that eliquid flavorings are the unknowns in inhalation danger. I use clove (not the essential oil but the eliquid flavoring concentrate). Just because something is perfectly clean and safe to eat, doesn't mean it is safe to inhale. I wish real attention, real focus, would be given to these issues and not to the "vaping is as bad as smoking" meme, which doesn't help anybody, doesn't help risk taking youngsters who will do what they do, doesn't help people trying to quit smoking by vaping, just muddies the waters. The ridiculous parade of US studies and articles I have seen are just shy of disinformation, except when they have a little bit of good information buried deep inside.
Read my rant or ignore it, but I'm convinced the naysayers, the nannies and the corrupt government bureaucracies read this forum, at least from time to time. Maybe someday they'll actually care, and stop sending threatening letters to vape sellers who offer their products as a smoking cessation method (which most of the sellers have had to learn not to do, sadly).
