Essay Example on E-Cigarettes: The Debate Continues on Safety and Prevalence

Despite the decline in cigarette smoking, smoking-related conditions remain rampant in the USA, with the introduction of other smoking options. These include e-cigarettes, water pipes, and smokeless tobacco. E-cigarettes have especially become common in the recent past, and are preferred among the younger generation that draws pleasure from tobacco. The debate on whether e-cigarettes are safer than traditional cigarettes is still huge, with the government carrying out studies to provide its citizens with relevant information. Through the Department of Human and Health Services, lung specialists are advising their patients on the risk factors associated with e-cigarettes. E-cigarettes are as harmful as traditional cigarettes

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An e-cigarette is an electronic device that produces a vapor similar to traditional smoking that the person inhales. E-cigarettes are fancy and come in different flavors that the user can choose from. The variety has earned them even more popular, especially among the higher social class. According to a comprehensive report by the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine released in 2018, e-cigarettes are not entirely safe as they have effects similar to traditional cigarettes. An e-cigar does not produce tar, which is associated with accelerated progression of lung cancer. However, cadmium, heavy metal has been found in e-cigars. Cadmium is a causative agent for lung and colon cancer in the long term (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). Although vaping does not accumulate tar, the black substance, cadmium, is more harmful than having discolored lungs with a slower rate of lung cancer progression. In 2019, Henry (4), reported an outbreak of new lung disease due to the use of vaping devices. Research, however, is being done to determine whether the e-cigarettes were legally purchased before a conclusion is made on the e-fluids in vaping pens. CDC has therefore advised people to refrain from using vaping pens for now.

According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) trying regulating the contents of the e-fluids, but it has proven hard due to the various flavors available and increasing consumption. Freedom poses a danger of malpractice, which could lead to increased complications among users. Siegel et al., (473) speculated that the increased cases of lung diseases among e-cigarette users could be due to a contaminant, other than one of the causative agents of the condition. Further research is, however, is being done to determine the causes of a spike in lung conditions.

The addictive substance in cigarettes is nicotine. At first, nicotine causes nausea, stomach upsets, and blotting, but the body adjusts over time. The body records nicotine as a substance that is taken daily and builds tolerance, such that it demands increasing levels (Prochaska, Judith, and Benowitz 471). Every time nicotine enters the bloodstream, it causes the release of adrenaline, which increases blood pressure and heartbeat, which it felt like a buzz in the body. It also causes releases dopamine, a feel-good hormone that creates a sense of relaxation. The effect is, however, not long-lasting, and the smoker has to smoke again to maintain it. Users of vaping pens can adjust the voltage of e-cigarettes such that the liquid provides more concentration of nicotine, which could make them more addictive than traditional cigars. The smoker can also increase the strength of the cartridge so that they inhale more nicotine. Withdrawal from nicotine causes withdrawal symptoms, which include irritability and aggressiveness.

Vaping pens may look classy, but they are creating a new wave of addiction. The younger generation prefers to use e-cigars compared to conventional cigarettes, but the risks associated are the same. The number of people using e-cigars is increasing as it is termed" cool." With no smoke and odor, they can escape the stigma of traditional smoking. A significant percentage of youngsters start smoking to fit in due to peer pressure, mainly due to the influence of social media (Cooper 173). With the availability of smokeless cigars, it is even easier. The Centers for Disease Control in 2018 reported the use of e-cigarettes had increased by a tremendous 900 percent, with 40% of the number having never smoked the traditional cigarette (Centers for Disease Control). The regulation of not selling cigarettes to children under 21 is not a barrier to high school students, as they manage to maneuver and get their supplies (McBride 92). Vaping pens are also being used to heat marijuana. Off- shelf cartridges that can be adjusted to accommodate other substances are available in almost every street. The practice has also increased the use of marijuana among the young generation.

Vaping has been suggested as a method to quit smoking. Still, the results so far are insignificant, as a significant number of those who use e-cigarettes as a cessation method do not altogether quit smoking. Since e-cigarettes contain nicotine levels that can be adjusted, the person trying to quit smoking ends up taking in more nicotine. Teenagers who have used vaping pens are also more likely to start smoking regular studies. This is according to a study by Harvard Medical School, which associated an increased number of teenage smokers with pre-exposure to e-cigarettes. Teens who have access to e-cigars are also more likely to smoke marijuana.

E-cigarettes are considered a lesser evil to smokers since it contains fewer chemicals, but that is the only known benefit. E-cigarettes have effects similar to traditional cigarettes and are beneficial to people who want to reduce their nicotine intake, and eventually, quit smoking only when used as prescribed (Siegel et al., 473). Doctors prescribe e-cigar to patients who have failed when using other methods. The method, however, requires close monitoring for it to be effective. There are varying reports by people on how effective e-cigars have been to them in their journey of quitting the addiction. While some say their breathing has improved, some complaint of allergic reactions, severe asthma attacks, and impaired breathing, with some being admitted in the hospital, according to a report written by Grady (3) in the New York Times. The possibility of a particular batch of vaping pens being contaminated is high, given that the FDA does not regulate their manufacturing. The affected could have used contaminated cigars. E-cigars were also introduced in the U.S. in 2006, which has not accorded researchers enough time to analyze their manufacture process, which limits the amount of information available on their long term effects.

E-cigars have been in the market for about ten years, but their use is becoming more popular, especially among the younger generation. The new technique is preferred since the liquid used in e-cigars is odorless, and vaping pens are classy and easy to carry around. Information on e-cigars is still limited, which makes it necessary to research more about them. FDA should also consider regulating its manufacturing process, which is essential amidst concerns about whether e-cigars are entirely safe. A batch that is contaminated may exist already in the market, but stopping any more malpractice could save lives. The increasing number of lung conditions being reported could be an indicator of contaminants in a batch of e-cigars that are in circulation. Although e-cigars have been posed as less harmful than traditional cigarettes, research has shown that e-cigars only have the benefit of helping hardcore smokers quit, and is only valid when used as prescribed. Generally, e-cigars are as harmful as traditional cigars. Their rampant use among teenagers, unlike regular cigarettes, is also a point of concern on whether their benefit is worth the native impact they have on high school students.

Works Cited

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with E-Cigarette Use of Vaping." Accessed on 08 October 2019, from https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html.

Cooper, Maria, Kathleen R. Case, and Alexandra Loukas. "E-cigarette use among Texas youth: results from the 2014 Texas Youth Tobacco Survey." Addictive behaviors 50 (2015): 173-177. www.doi.org/10.1016/j.addbeh.2015.06.034. Accessed 10 Sep.2019

Grady, Denise. "Vaping-Related Illnesses Climb to 805, CDC.The New York Times, 26 September 2019. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/09/26/health/vaping-illnesses-cdc.html.

Henry, Travis S., Jeffrey P. Kanne, and Seth J. Kligerman. "Imaging of vaping-associated lung disease." New England Journal of Medicine (2019). www-nejm-org.ezp.twu.edu/doi/10.1056/NEJMc1911995 . Accessed 18 September.2019

McBride, Deborah L. "E-cigarette use by children increasing." Journal of pediatric nursing 29.1 (2014): 92-93. www.doi.org/10.1016/j.pedn.2013.10.004 Accessed 10 September.2019

Office of the Commissioner . "Problems with E-Cigarettes or Other Tobacco Products? Tell the FDA." US Food and Drug Administration, FDA. Accessed from https://www.fda.gov/consumers/consumer-updates/problems-e-cigarettes-vape-products-hookah-cigarettes-or-other-tobacco-products-tell-fda.

"Outbreak of Lung Injury Associated with E-Cigarette Use of Vaping." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 03 October 2019 https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/basic_information/e-cigarettes/severe-lung-disease.html

Prochaska, Judith J., and Neal L. Benowitz. "The past, present, and future of nicotine addiction therapy." Annual review of medicine 67 (2016): 467-486. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5117107/

Siegel, Michael B., Kerry L. Tanwar, and Kathleen S. Wood. "Electronic cigarettes as a smoking-cessation tool: results from an online survey." American journal of preventive medicine 40.4 (2011): 472-475. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21406283