Clear The Air News Tobacco Blog Rotating Header Image

Nicotine Addiction

Nicotine reinforcement demonstrated in study with ‘never-smokers’

Sep 10th, 2015
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20150910/Nicotine-reinforcement-demonstrated-in-study-with-e28098never-smokerse28099.aspx

In a study with 18 adults who had never smoked, scientists at Johns Hopkins report they have demonstrated one of the earliest steps — nicotine “reinforcement” — in the process of addiction, and shown that some people are far more vulnerable to nicotine addiction than others.

In a summary of the research, published online Sept. 8 in the journal Psychopharmacology, the investigators say they have, for the first time, characterized the body’s reaction to the first, tiniest “hits” of nicotine. The results, they say, should lay groundwork for future revelations about genetic or other biological factors that make people vulnerable to nicotine addiction.

Addiction researcher Roland R. Griffiths, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine says,

From an addiction point of view, nicotine is a very unusual drug. When you give people nicotine for the first time, most people don’t like it. It’s different from many other addictive drugs, for which most people say they enjoy the first experience and would try it again. Our results suggest there are definitely some people who are nicotine avoiders and others who are nicotine choosers. There are probably genetic or metabolic vulnerabilities that make people fall into one group or the other.”

Scientists, Griffiths notes, have struggled for decades to understand why, in the face of initial dislike, so many become addicted to cigarettes. Previous research, for example, has shown that a majority of never-smokers given a cigarette or dose of nicotine not only report disliking the effects, but later, when offered a nicotine -containing pill, gum or candy, or a placebo — a classic test of the “reinforcement” abilities of an addictive drug — they chose the placebo.

Similarly, even in laboratory mice and rats, nicotine usually fails the reinforcement test, with animals choosing a placebo over nicotine.

In a novel effort to get at the root of the puzzle, Griffiths and his team set out to explore the conditions under which nicotine’s reinforcement properties first take hold in never-smokers.

Rather than use a dose of nicotine similar to that in a cigarette or in a nicotine patch or gum — doses that can overwhelm first-time users — his team turned to doses around 10 times lower, barely above what is needed for someone to notice nicotine’s effects, such as relaxation, jitters, better focus, energy or changes in mood.

Then the researchers designed a double-blind study in which volunteers wouldn’t know whether they were getting nicotine or a placebo.

Dr Griffiths said:

We attempted to develop conditions in which people could learn to become familiar with the subtle mood-altering effects of very low doses of nicotine, with the goal of uncovering the reinforcing effects of nicotine.”

For the study, Griffiths and his team recruited 18 healthy men and women who had never smoked — or only ever smoked a handful of cigarettes — and gave each of them two identical-looking pills labeled A and B each day for several weeks. The volunteers were told the pills might contain any of a number of substances, ranging from caffeine or sugar, to ginseng, chamomile, theobromine, kava or nicotine.

In fact, each day, each volunteer was given one very-low-dose nicotine pill, starting at 1.5 milligrams of nicotine per 70 kilograms of body weight, and one placebo, with at least two hours between the pills.

The order of the pills was mixed across days. Volunteers were asked to report their symptoms — relaxation, changes in energy levels, concentration, light-headedness, drowsiness and jitters — after each pill.

Then, on at least 10 successive days, they were given the same pills again, this time unlabeled, and asked to identify which pill was A and which was B. If the volunteer was unable to reliably distinguish between mystery pill A and mystery pill B, the dose of nicotine was increased slightly.

Once each volunteer could reliably distinguish between pill A and B, they were given a choice of taking either pill and asked to explain their decision. Some people thought the placebo contained a drug —one that made them drowsy, for instance — so they weren’t necessarily choosing one they thought didn’t cause symptoms.

Nine of the 18 participants reliably chose the nicotine pill, citing improved concentration, alertness, stimulation, energy and better mood. The other half, however, chose the placebo, often explaining that the nicotine pill — although they didn’t know it contained nicotine — made them feel light-headed, dizzy or sick.

Griffiths believes this is the first study to conclusively show that nicotine can pass the reinforcement test in never-users, and he expects it will inform future studies of “avoiders” and “choosers.” Ultimately, he says:

I hope our findings will point the way toward future interventions that prevent or treat nicotine addiction, a topic of increasing importance in light of the expanding marketing of electronic nicotine delivery devices — e-cigarettes — to youthful nicotine nonusers.”

Electronic Cigarettes Are Another Route to Nicotine Addiction for Youth

Sep 8th, 2015
by AdminCTA.
No comments yet
GDE Error: Requested URL is invalid

E-cigarettes make teenagers four times more likely to move on to real smoking, health experts warn

Sep 8th, 2015
by AdminCTA.
No comments yet

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-3226924/E-cigarettes-make-teenagers-four-times-likely-real-smoking-health-experts-warn.html

Teenagers who use e-cigarettes are four times more likely to end up smoking ‘real’ cigarettes, according to new research. American researchers said unregulated electronic cigarettes which are advertised on TV and in magazines serve as a gateway to smoking for teens and young adults. Results showed 38 per cent of e-cigarette users had started smoking traditional cigarettes within a year compared to just ten per cent who had not used an e-cig. Smoking an electronic cigarette makes the user more likely to start using real tobacco (pic posed by model) Recent research suggested that vaping could be a way of breaking the habit and could save the NHS millions.

But the latest study indicates that because e-cigs deliver nicotine more slowly than traditional cigarettes, it allows users to advance to cigarette smoking as they become tolerant of nicotine side effects.

They are also designed to mimic the behavioural and sensory act of cigarette smoking, allowing the user to become accustomed to the act of smoking. Because they are not banned from public spaces, e-cigs may be seen as potentially renormalising smoking after decades of public health efforts to demonise it. And the flavoured smokes may simply appeal to teenagers. Dr Brian Primack of the University of Pittsburgh said: ‘E-cigarettes are not subject to many of the laws that regulate traditional cigarettes, such as age limits on sales, taxation and labeling requirements. ‘They also come in youth-oriented flavourings that laws have limited in traditional cigarettes, such as apple bubble gum and chocolate candy cane.’ Professor of pediatrics Dr James Sargent at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth added: ‘It also is notable that electronic cigarettes are marketed on television. ‘This represents the first time in more than 40 years that a smoking-related device has been advertised on this medium, which has tremendous reach and could drive appeal of these products among youth.’

The study published in JAMA Pediatrics was the first to assess this relation in a national US sample of youngster, and to include people older than 18 among its participants. It analysed data on a national sample of nearly 700 nonsmokers aged 16 to 26 surveyed in 2012 and again in 2013 through the Dartmouth Media, Advertising, and Health Study. All participants were considered ‘non-susceptible’ to initiating traditional cigarette smoking at the beginning of the study, because they had responded ‘definitely no’ when asked if they would try a cigarette offered by a friend or believed they would smoke a cigarette within the next year.

By the next year, 38 per cent of the baseline e-cigarette users had initiated traditional cigarette smoking.

In comparison, only 10 per cent of the youths who were not baseline e-cigarette users started smoking traditional cigarettes which Dr Primack said ‘these differences remained statistically significant.’ Dr Sargent said: ‘However, recent data suggest that more youth than ever are using e-cigarettes and that as many half of these adolescents are not smoking traditional cigarettes ‘Therefore, it is important to continue surveillance of both e-cigarettes and tobacco products among young people so policymakers can establish research-informed regulations to help prevent e-cigarettes from becoming gateway products on the road to youth smoking.’

Vaping of new synthetic drugs poses new threat

Sep 4th, 2015
by Editor.
No comments yet

http://wwlp.com/2015/09/04/vaping-of-new-synthetic-drugs-poses-new-threat/

There’s no federal age limit on who can buy them

Sara Ganim, CNN Published: September 4, 2015, 9:15 pm Updated: September 4, 2015, 9:20 pm

Fla. (CNN) – Smoke-free devices like e-cigarettes have become a popular way to break the nicotine addiction. Vapor pens, for example, allow smokers to control the amount of nicotine they receive.

But the devices are also being used to smoke synthetic drugs, which can be dangerous, as well as hard for police to detect.

On any given afternoon, Broward County deputies come across drugs this. This is flakka – just one of the inexpensive synthetic drugs ravaging south Florida — and there’s a new twist that’s making fighting these drugs even harder: e-cigarettes or vape pens.

Lieutenant Ozzy Tianga from the Broward Sheriff’s Office said, “It’s just a huge challenge. It’s affecting our entire communities from prevention to rehabilitation.”

Lt. Tianga says vaping drugs is so discreet, teens can do it right in school. “There is no scent. They can sit in the back of the room, and they think it’s funny. They are vaping and what they are vaping, again, I cannot determine.”

It used to be that if you would try to get high, it would smell. But Tianga says, all that has changed. That same secrecy makes it tough for police to know what’s inside that vape pen. They have to get it tested by a lab.

(Sara Ganim) “You can’t determine what’s in it right away?”
(Lt. Ozzy Tianga/Broward Sheriff’s Office) “Not at all. In fact, these individuals can smoke it right in front of you.”

A recent CDC study found e-cigarette use more than tripled among middle and high schoolers in 2014. It’s not known how much of that is drug-related, but young vape users are posting videos of themselves getting high on YouTube.

The Drug Enforcement Administration is so concerned because synthetics can be so dangerous, no matter how they’re ingested.

DEA Supervisory Special Agent John Scherbenske said, “We’ve seen time and time again where someone has overdosed and died. There are a significant number of overdoses that are occurring related to these types of drugs.”

All of this is so new, no one’s keeping track.

No one knows just how many people have been injured or have died from vaping synthetic drugs. But already emergency rooms are seeing an increase, and the stories are disturbing.

Dr. John Cunha from Holy Cross Hospital said, “I have had patients in my practice in the emergency room, that I have walked in on, that are actually vaping at the bedside,”
Doctor Cunha says recently, a patient was discharged after an overdose, and went into a hospital bathroom on his way out of the hospital. There, he vaped more drugs, and had to be taken back to the ER.

Dr. Cunha says, “I think that these devices do have a role in helping people get off of actual cigarettes, and that they may be proven safer in that case. But in the hands of teenagers and drug abusers, they are definitely very dangerous thing to have.”

The thing to remember is that these are not classified as drug paraphernalia, so there’s no federal age limit on who can buy them, although many states have restrictions. And these shops are popping up everywhere, not to mention they can easily be bought on the internet.

Now, the industry says that vaping is a good thing for a lot of people; that it’s helping people to quit smoking, not start smoking. They say everything is subject to abuse by drug addicts. Of course, there is a study that show that many of the teens that vape never smoked before.

Why e-cigarettes have their own toxic dangers

Sep 3rd, 2015
by AdminCTA.
No comments yet

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/lifestyle/news/article.cfm?c_id=6&objectid=11507123

A study of English quitters found those who used e-cigarettes were less likely to have successfully quit smoking after 12 months.

Wander into a vape shop in the mall or online, and you can find a smorgasbord of flavors: cotton candy, vanilla custard, even Unicorn Milk or Katy Perry’s Cherry.

Flashy flavors have helped e-cigarettes, designed to vaporise a nicotine solution, grow into an industry with an estimated $3.5 billion in annual U.S. sales. Less than a decade after the battery-powered devices were introduced in the United States, an estimated 10 percent of American adults and 13 percent of high school students “vape,” according to recent surveys.

While many users perceive e-cigs as safer than traditional cigarettes, some of the flavorings that make them so enticing may have their own toxic consequences.

A growing number of studies find that some of the liquids used in e-cigarettes contain flavorings whose inhalation has been associated with lung problems, ranging from irritation to a rare but serious lung disease. For example, diacetyl, a butter-flavored chemical, has been linked to dozens of cases of bronchiolitis obliterans, a life-threatening obstructive lung disease.

E-cigarettes are unregulated, but that may change. The Food and Drug Administration is considering a rule to extend its cigarette-regulating authority to e-cig devices. More than 7,700 e-cig flavors are being sold under more than 450 brands, with no labeling or testing requirements.

Jessica Barrington-Trimis, an epidemiologist at the University of Southern California who studies tobacco’s health effects, said that flavorings are particularly worrisome because they “have a history of being known respiratory toxins.” Barrington-Trimis, who spoke at an FDA panel looking into e-cigs in March, said that because the devices produce an ultrafine aerosol that goes deep into the lungs, their flavorings “are a natural target” for further investigation.

“We need to research this more to understand what chemicals are in these things and what these chemicals may be doing to the lungs of the user,” she said.

One of the first people to highlight e-cig flavoring concerns was a physician who uses e-cigarettes himself. Konstantinos Farsalinos, a researcher at the Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center in Athens, tested 159 sweet e-cig liquids, such as toffee, chocolate and caramel flavorings, and found that 74 percent of the samples contained diacetyl – the chemical associated with bronchiolitis obliterans – or a chemically similar substitute, acetyl propionyl.

Among the ones that tested positive, nearly half would expose users to levels that exceed recommended workplace limits for breathing the two chemicals, his 2014 study found.

Diacetyl is found naturally in butter, beer and other foods, and it is added to baked goods, candy and snack foods to impart a buttery or creamy taste. Although it is considered safe to eat, breathing it may not be.

In 2002, the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, reported that eight workers in a Missouri microwave popcorn plant had developed bronchiolitis obliterans after breathing diacetyl on the job. Half of them needed lung transplants, and five have died of respiratory causes, Kathleen Kreiss, a NIOSH expert in occupational respiratory disease, said in an e-mail. Dozens of cases of bronchiolitis obliterans – known in some circles as “popcorn lung” – have since been found at other food and flavorings plants.

Farsalinos, who has accepted some funding from the vaping industry, said he believes that e-cigarettes are safer than tobacco cigarettes. Acetyl propionyl and diacetyl are also naturally present in cigarette smoke, Farsalinos said, at levels higher than those he found in e-cigs.

Still, Farsalinos said, “these specific chemicals should be completely removed” from e-cigs. “Why? Because it’s a 100 percent avoidable risk.”

Some manufacturers avoid diacetyl. For example, Nicoventures, a division of British American Tobacco, does not use diacetyl in its nine e-cigarette flavorings, Sandra Costigan, a company toxicologist said in an e-mail.

The American Vaping Association, an advocacy group for the industry, believes that diacetyl and acetyl propionyl should not be added to e-cigarette flavorings, association president Gregory Conley said.

In 2012 the Flavor and Extract Manufacturers Association, which represents the U.S. flavorings industry, issued a list of 27 “high-priority” flavoring chemicals that, while safe in food, may pose a risk of respiratory injury and for which it recommends reducing inhalation exposure. The list includes chemicals found in e-cig liquids, such as diacetyl and benzaldehyde, which is used in almond and cherry flavors.

“When we saw flavors were being used in e-cigarettes, we wanted to put the word out right away that it’s a possibility that flavors being inhaled through an e-cigarette could also be harmful,” John Hallagan, the association’s senior adviser and general counsel, said in an interview.

“Flavors are not made to be inhaled,” he said. “In the absence of safety information, what we’re saying is we really need to pay attention to this from a safety perspective.”

A 2013 study found that several cinnamon-flavored e-cig liquids contained a chemical, cinnamaldehyde, that researchers said was highly toxic to human cells in lab tests. A co-author of that study, Prue Talbot, a professor of cell biology at the University of California at Riverside, said the results corroborated online reports by e-cig users of problems related to cinnamon flavors, including swollen throats and mouth sores.

Another study examined 30 e-cigarette liquids and found that many flavors – including a cotton candy, a bubble gum and a French vanilla – contained aldehydes, a class of chemicals that can cause respiratory irritation, airway constriction and other effects. The 2015 paper described two flavors, a dark chocolate and a wild cherry, that would expose vapers to more than twice the recommended workplace safety limit for the aldehydes vanillin and benzaldehyde. Different brands and even different batches of e-cig liquids can contain different amounts of flavoring chemicals.

“There’s no going by the flavor names as to say what’s in it,” said James Pankow, a chemistry and engineering professor at Oregon’s Portland State University, one of the co-authors of the study.

The FDA’s proposed rule on e-cigarettes would restrict sales to young people and prohibit unsubstantiated health claims. If e-cigs are brought under the FDA’s regulatory authority, the agency would have to go through additional rulemaking to set standards on flavorings, FDA spokesman Michael Felberbaum said in an e-mail. The FDA prohibits adding flavorings, other than menthol, in traditional tobacco cigarettes.

Some e-cig companies are doing their own research on flavorings. Nicoventures, the British company, recently proposed a screening process to avoid liquid flavorings that are classified as respiratory allergens, carcinogenic, mutagenic or toxic to reproduction, among other criteria. The company has rejected diacetyl and acetaldehyde as flavorings and avoided developing a flavor that uses cocoa shell extract because of concerns that it might be a respiratory sensitizer, Costigan said in an e-mail.

“We wanted to demonstrate that they [flavorings] could be used responsibly even when there are limitations in data,” she said.

The company says that flavorings benefit public health by helping smokers transition away from combustible tobacco. However, the science isn’t settled yet on whether e-cigs help people quit tobacco cigarettes – or get them hooked. A recent study, for instance, found that ninth-graders who used e-cigs were about 2 1/2 times as likely as their peers to start smoking traditional cigarettes.

Conley, of the American Vaping Association, says e-cigarettes flavored with watermelon helped him stop smoking five years ago, and he will fight to keep flavorings on the market.

“There’s a reason why the gum, patch and lozenge have such pitiful success rates,” he said, referring to some common approaches to smoking cessation. “We have to avoid medicinalizing these products [e-cigarettes] and making them bland and boring,” he said.

Even if e-cigarette users are exposed to diacetyl, he asserted, the risk of harm is only a fraction of that from smoking tobacco, which causes 480,000 deaths per year in the United States, according to federal data.

Talbot, who conducted the cinnamon flavoring study, said the problem is that people are now “inhaling a product into their lungs, and we don’t currently know what the consequences or long-term health effects of that will be.” While it is true, she said, that e-cIgs contain fewer chemicals than the brew of 7,000-plus that are in traditional cigarette smoke, “it would only take one bad one.”

A Smoking Gun – Cancer-causing chemicals in e-cigarettes

Sep 3rd, 2015
by AdminCTA.
No comments yet

Download (PDF, 5.41MB)

Why e-cigarettes have their own toxic dangers

Sep 3rd, 2015
by AdminCTA.
No comments yet

Download (PDF, 559KB)

Electronic cigarette effectiveness and abuse liability: predicting and regulating nicotine flux

Aug 31st, 2015
by AdminCTA.
No comments yet

Abstract

Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) comprise an aerosolized nicotine delivery product category that provides consumers with probably unprecedented control over extensive features and operating conditions, allowing a wide range of nicotine yields to be obtained. Depending on the combination of such ECIG variables as electrical power input, geometry, liquid composition, and puff behavior, ECIG users can extract in a few puffs far more or far less nicotine than with a conventional combustible cigarette. These features of ECIG design and use present challenges for public health policy, central among which is the question of how to regulate nicotine delivery. In this commentary, we propose a conceptual framework intended to provide a convenient approach for evaluating and regulating the nicotine emitted from ECIGs. This framework employs nicotine flux to account for the total dose and rate at which nicotine reaches the user, 2 key factors in drug abuse liability. The nicotine flux is the nicotine emitted per puff second (e.g., mg/s) by a given ECIG design under given use conditions, and it can be predicted accurately using physical principles. We speculate that if the flux is too low, users likely will abandon the device and maintain conventional tobacco product use. Also, we speculate that if the flux is too high, individuals may suffer toxic side effects and/or the device may have higher-than-necessary abuse liability. By considering ECIG design, operation conditions, liquid composition, and puff behavior variables in combination, we illustrate how ECIG specifications can be realistically mandated to result in a target flux range.

Abstract

Introduction Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) aerosolise a liquid that usually contains propylene glycol and/or vegetable glycerine, flavourants and the dependence-producing drug, nicotine, in various concentrations. This laboratory study examined the relationship between liquid nicotine concentration and plasma nicotine concentration and puffing behaviour in experienced ECIG users.

Methods Sixteen ECIG-experienced participants used a 3.3-Volt ECIG battery attached to a 1.5-Ohm dual-coil ‘cartomiser’ loaded with 1 mL of a flavoured propylene glycol/vegetable glycerine liquid to complete four sessions, at least 2 days apart, that differed by nicotine concentration (0, 8, 18 or 36 mg/mL). In each session, participants completed two 10-puff ECIG-use bouts (30 s puff interval) separated by 60 min. Venous blood was sampled to determine plasma nicotine concentration. Puff duration, volume and average flow rate were measured.

Results Immediately after bout 1, mean plasma nicotine concentration was 5.5 ng/mL (SD=7.7) for 0 mg/mL liquid, with significantly (p<0.05) higher mean concentrations observed for the 8 (mean=17.8 ng/mL, SD=14.6), 18 (mean=25.9 ng/mL, SD=17.5) and 36 mg/mL (mean=30.2 ng/mL; SD=20.0) concentrations; a similar pattern was observed for bout 2. For bout 1, at 36 mg/mL, the mean post- minus pre-bout difference was 24.1 ng/mL (SD=18.3). Puff topography data were consistent with previous results and revealed few reliable differences across conditions.

Discussion This study demonstrates a relationship between ECIG liquid nicotine concentration and user plasma nicotine concentration in experienced ECIG users. Nicotine delivery from some ECIGs may exceed that of a combustible cigarette. The rationale for this higher level of nicotine delivery is uncertain.

Jury still out on the impact of vaping on your health

Aug 31st, 2015
by AdminCTA.
No comments yet

http://www.thestar.com/life/health_wellness/2015/08/31/jury-still-out-on-the-impact-of-vaping-on-your-health.html

Vaping is less harmful than lighting up the real thing, but there’s still not enough good evidence showing that it’s harmless

There’s no question e-cigarettes, also known as vaporizers, are growing in popularity. Many people see vaporizing, or vaping, as an alternative to using traditional cigarettes — and potentially as a tool to help people quit smoking. Vaping is less harmful than lighting up the real thing, but there’s still not enough good evidence showing that it’s harmless.

The first e-cigarette was introduced just over a decade ago. The devices are made up of three components: a cartridge for e-liquids, which may contain nicotine and flavourings; a heating device to generate vapour, which the user inhales; and a battery. Manufacturers have already introduced multiple generations of e-cigarettes. The fact that the technology is relatively new and changes quickly hampers research into the safety of these devices and their utility as smoking cessation aids.

Originally, e-cigarettes looked just like the real thing, and had red LED lights at the end that lit up when users took a drag. Some people even called them “cig-alikes.” Now, they come in variety of different colours and styles and no longer resemble their paper-rolled, tobacco filled counterparts. A new term that’s gaining popularity is Electronic Nicotine Delivery System, or ENDS.

Health Canada hasn’t approved e-liquids containing any nicotine for sale in this country, but that doesn’t mean you can’t buy them. Even the e-liquids that don’t contain nicotine may not be safe.

Some of these “juices” are flavoured with diacetyl, which is known to be toxic when ingested or inhaled in large quantities. Determining the long-term effects of the various chemicals in e-liquids is just one active area of study when it comes to vaping.

My research focuses on tobacco dependence and treatment, including two recent studies involving vaping. One study looked at how effective e-cigarettes are in alleviating cravings for traditional cigarettes. We found they were effective, but only for a short time. The second study involved people enrolled in a free smoking cessation treatment program involving nicotine replacement therapy and counselling. That research found that people using e-cigarettes during treatment were less likely to have quit three and six months after enrolling in the program. Both cases require further research.

Within the tobacco research and control community, vaping remains a polarizing issue. Some of my colleagues believe vaping will spell the end of traditional cigarettes and think the health-care community should be encouraging people to switch to e-cigarettes. Other colleagues believe vaping will renormalize cigarette smoking and undo the progress made through tobacco control efforts over the last 20 years. I think that more high quality research is needed to resolve this issue.

To further complicate matters, many tobacco companies have bought the smaller e-cigarette companies, and are heavily promoting their battery-operated alternatives. For tobacco companies, this has the potential not just to recoup the lost revenue from falling cigarette sales, but it may also be a new way to get new people hooked on their products.

The number of people “lighting up” electronically nearly doubles each year. If the trend continues, vaping could overtake smoking one day. As the demand for these products grows, so does the need to find out all we can about their benefits and risks.

Dr. Laurie Zawertailo is an assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. She is also a scientist in the Addictions Program at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

Doctors’ Notes is a weekly column by members of the University of Toronto’s Faculty of Medicine. If you have a question or comment for one of our experts, email doctorsnotes@thestar.ca .

Vaping Facts

  • The first vaporizing e-cigarette was invented in Beijing in 2003 by a pharmacist, Hon Lik, who hoped to quit his own smoking habit.
  • Imperial Tobacco, which sells its products in 160 countries, bought the patents for Hon’s invention in 2013
  • Disposable vaporizers were introduced in Canada in 2007
  • The World Health Organization called for a ban on the use of e-cigarettes in public places and work places last August
  • In May, Ontario passed a law banning the sale of e-cigarettes to anyone under the age of 19, banning vaping in smoke-free areas, and regulating the promotion and display of e-cigarettes
  • In Canada, it’s illegal for companies to market their vaporizers by claiming e-cigarettes are an effective way to quit smoking or to suggest it’s a safer alternative
  • More than 460 brands of vaporizers are sold worldwide
  • The global market for e-cigarettes is estimated to reach a value of $3 billion this year

7 Reasons E-Cigarettes Are Bad

Aug 30th, 2015
by AdminCTA.
No comments yet

http://www.inquisitr.com/2378144/7-reasons-e-cigarettes-are-bad/

Dieter Holger

E-cigarettes, also known as electronic cigarettes, have become a popular alternative to smoking the real deal, but the pros and cons of turning to this futuristic alternative are still under debate. Are e-cigarettes really any better than smoking a cigarette? Here are seven reasons e-cigarettes pose dangers to our health.

The effects of e-cigarettes are nowhere near as well-documented as cigarettes.

The e-cigarette industry is already worth billions of dollars, but there is nowhere near as much information on e-cigarettes as tobacco products. This should raise alarms, as the tobacco industry lived under a veil of scientific obscurity for decades until the detrimental health effects of cigarettes became well-known. Many people think e-cigarettes are a safer alternative, but that belief remains scientifically unproven, and evidence continues to come out saying e-cigarettes have toxic effects.

E-cigarettes contain plenty of cancerous chemicals.

By smoking e-cigarette vapor, people hope to avoid the cancerous chemicals inhaled from burning tobacco. Yet, e-cigarettes carry their fair share of toxic chemicals, too. Here’s a summary from the American Lung Association.

“In 2009, the FDA conducted lab tests and found detectable levels of toxic cancer-causing chemicals, including an ingredient used in antifreeze, in two leading brands of e-cigarettes and 18 various cartridges. A 2014 study found that e-cigarettes with a higher voltage level have higher amounts of formaldehyde, a carcinogen. It is urgent for FDA to begin its regulatory oversight of e-cigarettes, which would require ingredient disclosure to FDA, warning labels and youth access restrictions.”

Also, a 2013 study from the German Cancer Institute detected 8 different toxic chemicals in various e-cigarette liquids. And because the e-cigarette industry remains largely unregulated, the chemicals found in e-cigarettes aren’t uniform across the market. Some products may be less toxic than others, but without enough research or regulation it’s hard to know.

E-cigarettes are just as addictive as smoking tobacco.

E-cigarettes and tobacco products have the same highly addictive drug: nicotine. E-cigarettes derive nicotine from traditional cigarettes, delivering the same drug in a smokeless (vapor) form. In July, Daily Mail reported on a study by the American University of Beirut and the Center for the Study of Tobacco Products which demonstrated e-cigarettes contained highly addictive forms of nicotine. E-cigarettes might not have the same carcinogenic materials as cigarettes (like tar), but its nicotine still fosters addiction.

E-cigarettes have negative effects on lungs.

A supposed benefit of e-cigarettes is inhaling vapor instead of smoke. However, e-cigarette vapor is turning out to have a destructive effect on lungs. A recent July analysis by the University of Athens claimed that “using an e-cigarette caused an instant increase in airway resistance that lasted for 10 minutes.” Put simply, smoking e-cigarettes unhealthily constrains your airways.

Additionally, a study published in May by Indiana University showed that even nicotine-free e-cigarette vapor had damaging effects on the endothelial cells of the lungs. Endothelial cells protect the lungs from infections, so damaging them can’t be good for your immune system.

E-cigarettes won’t help you quit.

A lot of people vape e-cigarettes because they think it will help them kick their addiction. But recent research, including a comprehensive study by UC San Francisco, show that e-cigarettes don’t provide any extra help in quitting smoking. After surveying 849 smokers, the researchers found that users of e-cigarettes weren’t more likely to quit smoking.

“We found that there was no difference in the rate of quitting between smokers who used an e-cigarette and those who did not,” said head researcher Dr. Pamela Ling, a professor at the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at UC San Francisco.

E-cigarettes might create the equivalent of secondhand smoke.

Even if you don’t smoke, avoiding smokers is good for your health. But the American Lung Association point out e-cigarettes can also create the equivalent of toxic secondhand smoke, secondhand vapor.

“Also unknown is what the potential harm may be to people exposed to secondhand emissions from e-cigarettes. Two initial studies have found formaldehyde, benzene and tobacco-specific nitrosamines (all carcinogens) coming from those secondhand emissions. Other studies have shown that chemicals exhaled by users also contain formaldehyde, acetaldehyde and other potential irritants. While there is a great deal more to learn about these products, it is clear that there is much to be concerned about, especially in the absence of FDA oversight.”

E-cigarettes could be a gateway into tobacco products for youth.

The tobacco industry spends millions of dollars advertising to youth, and it turns out e-cigarettes might be helping convince young people to smoke nicotine. Here’s a summary of studies from the American Lung Association.

“The American Lung Association is concerned about e-cigarettes becoming a gateway to regular cigarettes, especially in light of the aggressive industry marketing tactics targeted at youth—including the use of candy flavors and the glamorization of e-cigarette use. Studies are showing a dramatic increase in usage of e-cigarettes, especially among youth. For the first time ever, a national study released in December 2014 found e-cigarette use among teens exceeds traditional cigarette smoking. The study also found that e-cigarette use among 8th and 10th graders was double that of traditional cigarette smoking. CDC studies have also shown e-cigarette use among high school students increased by 61 percent from 2012 to 2013.”

Another study, conducted this August by the University of Southern California, found that teenagers who try e-cigarettes are more likely to smoke tobacco. The researchers sampled 2,500 9th graders who had never had smoked a cigarette, finding those who tried vaping e-cigarettes were 23 percent more likely to smoke a tobacco cigarette over those who had never tried an e-cig. On top of that, one-fourth of the surveyed youth who tried e-cigarettes admitted to smoking tobacco cigarettes within the last 6 months.

← Earlier Posts Newer Posts →