{"id":9848,"date":"2014-03-31T09:45:59","date_gmt":"2014-03-31T14:45:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/?p=9848"},"modified":"2014-03-31T09:45:59","modified_gmt":"2014-03-31T14:45:59","slug":"e-cigs-popularity-grow-despite-health-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/tartan-news\/2014\/03\/31\/e-cigs-popularity-grow-despite-health-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"E-cigs popularity grow despite health concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"More<\/a><\/p>\n

The popularity of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigs, has risen sharply in recent years despite growing health concerns and attempts to ban sales in certain areas of the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cI like them better than cigarettes because you\u2019re inhaling vapor and not smoke,\u201d Jake Duprey, a first year student at Sinclair Community College said.<\/p>\n

According to the products\u2019 creators, e-cigs are a form of nicotine therapy that helps smokers to quit without experiencing the stress of nicotine withdrawal.<\/p>\n

They still contain a small amount of nicotine that is mixed with flavors and other chemicals. The devices work by heating the liquid cartridge which eventually turns the mixture into an inhalable vapor. The battery-powered devices let users inhale nicotine-infused vapors, which don’t contain the tar and carbon monoxide found in tobacco smoke.<\/p>\n

\u201cI smoked cigarettes for over five years,\u201d Duprey said. \u201cWith the e-cigs, I still get nicotine, but I think it\u2019s better than inhaling cigarette smoke.\u201d<\/p>\n

In a study released last year by Wells Fargo, sales of e-cigs have gone from virtually nothing to $1.7 billion in annual sales in just over five years.<\/p>\n

According to the study, sales could hit $10 billion by 2017 \u2014 still a small chunk of the overall $100 billion tobacco industry, but with triple-digit growth rates still in its future, e-cigs have the potential to eventually rival tobacco sales.<\/p>\n

As recently as March, however, several bills have been written to regulate the e-cig market, which up until recently, has operated relatively free from government regulation.<\/p>\n

Part of the recent pressure from lawmakers and health activists is due to controversy surrounding the sale of e-cigs to minors.<\/p>\n

A report from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention from 2013 stated 1.78 million teens nationwide still in middle school or high school had tried e-cigs in 2012.<\/p>\n

Currently, individual states decide laws regarding the sales of e-cigs. In Ohio, the sale of any nicotine related product is banned to minors. As recently as March 25, however, Florida State Representative Ronald Renuart said in a press release that a bill has begun moving through the House of Representatives that would \u201cmake it illegal to sell an e-cigarette or similar nicotine based vaporized products to a minor.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sinclair Nursing student Alissa Roberts said it was comforting to know her teenage son can\u2019t legally by e-cigs. \u201cI\u2019ve heard stories from friends about how e-cigs made it easier for them to cut back smoking,\u201d she said. \u201cBut I still think it\u2019s just a substitution. People won\u2019t be really healthy until they stop using nicotine all together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roberts was a smoker for over 10 years, but with the help of other nicotine therapies like Nicorette Gum, she said she was finally able to wean herself off of nicotine entirely.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf people like to do it, that\u2019s fine with me, but I don\u2019t think it\u2019s smart to think of them as being something so much healthier than cigarettes,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Pamela Evans, a Digital Design major, said she thinks e-cigs haven\u2019t been around long enough to know for sure if they\u2019re completely safe.<\/p>\n

\u201cSixty years ago people still thought cigarettes were harmless … I just don\u2019t trust [e-cigs],\u201d she said. \u201cI know they don\u2019t have the smell of cigarettes, but I still don\u2019t like when I see people doing it inside, especially here on campus or in classes. It\u2019s still distracting.\u201d<\/p>\n

Evans said she regulalry sees students on campus using e-cigs, who claim the tobacco-free products aren\u2019t the same as cigarettes.<\/p>\n

However, according to the Sinclair Police Department, the\u00a0 same rules that apply to regular cigarettes also apply to the use of e-cigs. Currently, smokers on campus are required to light up in various designated areas, within 10 feet of the ashtrays and 25 feet away from any doors.<\/p>\n

Alex Parker, a Business major, agrees with Evans, adding that e-cigs shouldn\u2019t be allowed inside. \u201cEspecially in class,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s been a recent pet-peeve of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker still uses e-cigs himself, and agrees with Evans that it\u2019s too soon to know for sure whether e-cigs are a healthy alternative to cigarettes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey just haven\u2019t been around long enough,\u201d he said. \u201cI still use them though.\u00a0 I\u2019d rather take my chances and just trust that they\u2019re not as bad for me as cigarettes. Like all that stuff, it\u2019s a lifestyle choice. I\u2019m not hurting anybody, I don\u2019t see anything wrong with it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The popularity of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigs, has risen sharply in recent years despite growing health concerns and attempts to ban sales in certain areas of the country. \u201cI like them better than cigarettes because you\u2019re inhaling vapor and not smoke,\u201d Jake Duprey, a first year student at Sinclair Community College said. According to the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-9848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-2yQ","jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=9848"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9849,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/9848\/revisions\/9849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=9848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=9848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=9848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}