Good Example Of Reasons Why Electronic Cigarettes Are Not Healthy Essay

Introduction

Many individuals seeking to overcome cigarette addiction have turned to electronic cigarettes commonly known as e-cigarettes. Part of the decision to use e-cigarettes as the solution to their addictive behavior has been guided by the commercialization of these products. Additionally, the advertisements have highlighted the benefits while neglecting the harm that they cause on the users. As such, most e-cigarette users have moved on with the thought that these products are not harmful to their health in any way. However, research proves that although one may overcome tobacco addiction by using the e-cigarette, they bring equally dangerous health risks to the users. The health risks arise from the potency of the elements that are contained in the e-cigarette. The use of e-cigarettes is a health suicide. The solution that e-cigarettes appear to bring to the users have a negative health impact and are unsafe for use. E-cigarettes bring more harm than the intended benefits; although they lower the addiction to tobacco products, the negative health outcomes surpass the positive aspects of the product.
It is apparent that e-cigarettes eliminate tobacco thus providing a solution, which is less addictive to the users. However, the chemicals contained in the product are equally potent and harmful. Some of the elements present in the electronic cigarette include formaldehyde, nicotine among other chemicals. The effect of these chemicals may not be felt on the lungs of the user but it is felt on the heart. Heart damage is more eminent in this case. Advertisers have used the lack of tar, carbon monoxide, and dangerous smoke as the key selling point for the e-cigarettes. Individuals who fail to research believe that these are the only harmful and additive elements in the traditional cigarettes (Sa'ed & Waleed, 2014). In actual sense, the process of vaping does not mean that an individual has stopped smoking. The illusion that has been created prompts one to think that they have stopped smoking. However, in real sense, the individual continues to smoke. The method of deriving the materials in the product is through smoking. One has to smoke the electronic cigarette in order to obtain the nicotine from the item, in this perspective they continue to smoke. Clearly, the product is a process of making profits from organizations that were defeated in the war against tobacco and this does not make their product safe for use. Some states such as California have branded the electronic cigarette as a community health risk after keen review of the content and the effects of all the mentioned contents (Ann, & Konstantinos, 2014). This should set the pace for other states to initiate education and awareness programs to the citizens. Such programs will increase the public knowledge regarding their resort to the e-cigarette. Furthermore, the states can provide funding for rehabilitative processes for the individuals who intend to quit their smoking habits.
The increasing popularity of the electronic cigarettes has occurred due to the ignorance of users on the other elements. Research indicates that the lifetime risk of developing cancer after smoking one pack of traditional cigarettes increases ten times after smoking the e-cigarette. The absence of tobacco and tar is not completely the solution to terminating the risk for cancer as well as the risk for addiction. The vapor in the e-cigarettes also contain formaldehyde, which is a highly potent cause of cancer (Burstyn, 2014). The presence of nicotine in these cigarettes makes it no different from the traditional tobacco cigarettes, which have been demonized over the ages. The users do not understand that quitting an addiction is a therapeutic process, which requires guided steps rather than alternating the elements that an individual uses. In this regard, e-cigarettes have only facilitated the reduction of reliance on tobacco but do not lead to low addiction levels for the addicts (Burstyn, 2014). Additionally, the perception that addiction stops instantly has worked to propagate the use of electronic cigarettes. These products create a higher health risk not only on the users but also on the non-users especially those who are underage. In this perspective, underage use may be triggered because of the advertisements, which make the electronic cigarette to look cool. For this reason, the underage individuals may try out the e-cigarette and graduate to the tobacco cigarette as they look for the actual stimulation brought about by tobacco. Therefore, reducing the advertisements for e-cigarettes will initiate the process of eliminating them from the circulation.
Different from the common notion, tobacco is not the sole addictive element in the traditional cigarettes. Nicotine is also an addictive component that has the potential of aggravating heart conditions that have more detrimental consequences and kill faster than cancer. The electronic cigarettes have been termed as nicotine delivery products because they enable the user to feel as though they are smoking a traditional cigarette (Schraufnagel et. al., 2014). The health suicide from these cigarettes takes place due to the effect of nicotine on the circulatory system. In this perspective, nicotine causes an increase in blood pressure as well as the heart beat rate. Furthermore, these signs may not be as strong in the traditional cigarette as they are on the electronic cigarette (Schraufnagel et. al., 2014). The traditional cigarettes have a low level of nicotine because it is combined with other elements. Furthermore, nicotine is the main component in the e-cigarettes therefore; the content is higher in these cigarettes than it is in the traditional cigarettes thus making the risk higher.
Marijuana users have also shown a preference of electronic cigarettes over marijuana, which is similar to the move taken by tobacco users. The rate at which individuals are changing their preferences in a bid to tame their addiction indicates that the advertisements have worked. Through the advertisements, the different manufacturers have managed to conceal the negative effects of the product and highlight the therapeutic effects (Carla, & Gillian, 2015). The main selling point in this perspective is that the perception that electronic cigarettes are less addictive than tobacco cigarette. Additionally, the notion that the e-cigarette can kill addiction is an added selling point. The consumers have been led to believe that the harm is little than the actual harm. For this reason, the users through the different generations have increased. However, the advertisers are misguiding individuals who are desperate to quite their addictive behavior and they have not realized that they are being shortchanged. The increase in the use of e-cigarettes over marijuana and tobacco based cigarettes is attributed to the change in social structure. The society in this case view the smoke of marijuana and tobacco as immoral while e-cigarettes have not been demonized (Carla, & Gillian, 2015). The role of misinformation and misguiding the users has proven that ignorance is also health suicide. The commercialization and increase in business activity in the e-cigarette industry has and will continue to increase the number of users who are desperate for tobacco cure.

Conclusion

Users have been led to believe that they derive a myriad of benefits from e-cigarettes which surpass the consumption of tobacco cigarettes as well as marijuana. However, the harm that a user derives from the electronic cigarette surpasses the benefits that they have been convinced to be receiving. A larger group of e-cigarette users only knows of the benefits that they accrue from the use of this product but have no understanding on the underlying negative effects of the product. Additionally, most of the increase in consumption can be attributed to the misguided information from the media and the manufacturers. However, the magnification of the advantages of a production and the shrinking of the negative effect of the same products does not mean that the product will not affect the users. E-cigarettes have the same level of addiction as the tobacco cigarettes and they do not always resort to the termination or non-dependence of tobacco. Research prior to using the e-cigarette will increase the knowledge about the element percentage in each brand. The risk of cancer reduces once a tobacco smoker resorts to electronic cigarettes. However, the patients also suffers the eminent risk of having a cardiac ailment. Therefore, whether one refers to it as an e-cigarette or vaping, none of these are safe health wise. Addicts should follow the therapeutic process of solving addictive behaviors. It is indisputable that a health risk such as cancer cannot be solved by replacing it with another health risk.

References

Sa'ed H, Z., & Waleed, S. (2014). Worldwide research productivity in the field of electronic cigarette: A bibliometric analysis. BMC Public Health, 14(1).
Ann, M., & Konstantinos, F. (2014). A critique of a World Health Organization-commissioned report and associated paper on electronic cigarettes. Addiction, 109(12).
Burstyn, I. (2014). Peering through the mist: Systematic review of what the chemistry of contaminants in electronic cigarettes tells us about health risks. BMC Public Health, 18-18.
Carla, B., & Gillian, S. (2015). Perceived Harm, Addictiveness, and Social Acceptability of Tobacco Products and Marijuana Among Young Adults: Marijuana, Hookah, and Electronic Cigarettes Win. Substance Use & Misuse, 50(1), 79-79.
Schraufnagel, D., Blasi, F., Drummond, M., Lam, D., Latif, E., Rosen, M., Zyl-Smit, R. (2014). Electronic Cigarettes. A Position Statement of the Forum of International Respiratory Societies. American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 611-618.