Negative Reactions Mystify Electronic Cigarette Users
By Kristin Noll-Marsh
The booth at the state fair expo was black, with big, gold lettering exclaiming, "Electronic Cigarrettes - the smoking alternative!" As any tobacco smoker would, I expected to laugh at the silly concept and high price, but after dragging my husband over, it only took a minute for us both to realize that this was a revolutionary invention that we were seeing. And the price was right, as well!
The seller made it clear that it was not a device intended to STOP smoking - only a much safer and cheaper way to smoke. There is no scientific proof that they are safer, but it didn't take a degree in rocket science to see that the absence of smoke, tar and a few thousand other ingredients - including the 60-70 known carcinogens and poisons found in tobacco - made the flavored nicotine liquid seem tame by comparison. And the ability to reduce the nicotine levels from high, medium and low to liquid containing no nicotine at all was an appealing way to weaqn off nicotine altogether.
Of course, as soon as I got our new devices home, I had to log online and see what I could find out about them.
The first thing I found was a whole range of different devices and liquids available and not all devices are created equal. I also found that a whole subculture has quickly built up around the new phenomonium of "vaping," the term coined by electronic cigarette users instead of "smoking." The electronic cigarette is also known as a "personal vaporizer", as it produces a fine vapor instead of smoke. Tobacco cigarettes are jokingly called "analogs." "Vapers" often consider themselves "smoke-free" or "non-smokers" because they have broken away from actual "smoking" and most of the negative aspects of tobacco cigarettes.
"I feel free of cigarettes for the first time in my life," says James Solie., of Hudson, WI. James says his life has changed in so many ways since he has quit smoking. "I used to go to bed at night and could smell the smoke on myself, and it wasn't good. I don't miss that. I just feel better in every way imaginable. I breathe better, don't have that nasty congestion in the morning. My throat feels better. My sense of smell, thus taste is much better." James adds that his wife is happy that he has quit smoking, as well.
The perception of personal vaper users that they are no longer smoking is one that is difficult for non-smokers and smoke-free advocates to understand. Many have welcomed recent news of the FDA ban on certain electronic cigarette brands, due to safety concerns, and bans on their use in public spaces in municipalities in New York and Oregon. Vaporizer users fear the public has been falsly lead to believe that personal vaporizers aren't any different than tobacco cigarettes.
"Because vaping looks like smoking people immediately associate the two and come to a bad conclusion," says Scott Brower, of Santa Clarita, CA. Scott says he was not a cigarette smoker, but now enjoys nicotine-free electronic pipes and cigars. "They need to be educated to understand the fundamental differences."
On the FDA report, he says, "The announcement was rushed and omitted critical details. What should have been a scientific process and conclusion felt more political and reactionary. While I applaud their recognition of vaping and the need for testing, I also have to admonish their lack of care and due process. The FDA serves a critical role and I want them to take a very hard look at vaping. However, they must follow the scientific method to the letter if they are to fulfill their purpose. Given the potential significance of this to real tobacco users, and their fair and accurate treatment of this is literally life and death for millions."
Scott's response is typical of many vaporizer users - one of shock and disbelief at the knee-jerk public and governmental reaction. It's hard for them to see the logic in allowing the use of tobacco cigarettes, which are proven to contain dozens of poisons and carcinogens and create second-hand smoke to the vaporizers, which were found, in the FDA's own research, to only contain trace amounts of adverse ingredients. As Scott points out, those results were based on incomplete data collected from only a few samples - out of hundreds of different liquids and cartridges available on the market.
Dr. Michael Siegel is a professor at Boston University School of Public Health and a physician who specialized in preventive medicine and public health. On his blog, The Rest of the Story: Tobacco News Analysis and Commentary he comments, "With the FDA now approving the sale and marketing of conventional cigarettes, it is absurd to think that the Agency would spend so much of its energy on an attempt to remove this much safer alternative from the market, while ignoring the very real threat posed by the cigarettes being smoked by 45 million American."
"While further testing of electronic cigarettes is certainly warranted, and while restrictions on the sales of these products to minors and the types of marketing claims that can be made are reasonable," he states, "it would be criminal to take these products off the market. Smokers who have found these products to be a life-saver, allowing them to stay off regular cigarettes, should be permitted to have the choice of continuing to use the product while more definitive studies are conducted."
Other physicians seem to agree with him.
Just a few days before she started using a personal vaporizer, Julie Williams of Manchester, TN had a blood pressure of 230/110 and her heart rate was elevated. "I was on medication but it wasn't working," she recalls. "Within a week of vaping and only smoking 2-3 cigarettes a day, all my numbers went down to normal ones. My primary care doctor and cardiologist both contribute the change to me stopping smoking and vaping (instead.) Both doctors are telling other patients about ecigs." She says she has also quit smoking tobacco cigarettes altogether. "Both my primary care physician and my cardiologist are behind me 100% in my vaping. I even vape in the exam rooms while we discuss my ongoing treatments."
Her doctors don't seem too concerned about "second-hand vapor," unlike a few legislators and anti-smoking groups across the country, such as Suffolk County, NY, which, sponsored by Majority Leader Jon Cooper (D-Lloyd Neck), bans e-cigarette use in public spaces.
"There is no substantial evidence that these devices do any harm to the user or bystanders around the user, argues Spike Babaian, of Long Island, NY. "Despite the plethora of evidence provided to the Suffolk County legislature, that shows evidence that these devices are no more harmful that consuming a hot dog, they have determined that the “stress, fear and confusion,” which the public could potentially feel due to the presence of the fog, was sufficient reason to force vapers to follow the Suffolk County smoking ordinance and utilize these devices only in areas where smoking is allowed."
"This restriction would push thousands of non-smoking Suffolk County residents who utilize nicotine vaporizers into smoking areas where they would be exposed to the second hand smoke and toxic chemicals that they quit smoking to avoid. This is a clear violation of the civil rights of non-smokers who wish to avoid the toxic chemicals given off by cigarette smoke. This law was passed based on public fear, rather than fact, and the total disregard for the safety of these former smokers is an unjustifiable disgrace. Suffolk County’s Health and Human Services Committee, which is supposed to protect the health of Suffolk County residents, has put “psychological discomfort” of the minority ahead of physical health and that is an unforgivable offense.." (NOTE: Spike's quote is pending her approval for use in the article.)
TO BE CONTINUED AS I GET MORE INTERVIEW QUOTES!!
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