E-Cig: Fact or Fiction

Electronic cigarettes are sweeping the markets and the utilization of the products are on the rise. In fact, e-cigarette use has increased so dramatically among high school students that the U.S. Surgeon General called youth e-cigarette use an epidemic in December 2018.

As the number of young people addicted to tobacco rises, so does the tobacco industry’s marketing machine which claims e-cigarettes are “less bad” than traditional cigarettes. They even advertise e-cigarettes as a tool to help those addicted to smoking quit. Of course, evidence to the contrary includes a range of studies showing that people who try e-cigarettes as a tool to quit, end up increasing their nicotine intake by using a combination of the two types of traditional and electronic cigarettes and a Surgeon General report that concluded that secondhand emissions from e-cigarettes contain a dangerous cocktail of chemicals.

While the research continues – 3 things have become clear: e-cigarettes are a tobacco product, they are not safe for children, and they are not proven to help smokers quit. Those looking to quit should know that approved quit smoking medications with the assistance of a medical provider continues to be the best method to successfully abstain from tobacco use.

Sincerely,

Leilani Lockett

Tobacco Program Manager

Center for a Tobacco Free-Hudson Valley

American Lung Association