Is vaping safer than cigarettes?
As more and more people are vaping instead of smoking cigarettes, it begins to raise the question of ‘is vaping safer than smoking cigarettes’?
Vaping was initially created as a way to safely inhale tobacco or nicotine without having actual smoke inhalation. The modern e-cigarette was formed in 2003 by a Chinese pharmacist, and because of this, most of the e-cigarettes of the world are created from China. But that point is the most important thing; it reduces smoke inhalation.
The first thing is that it reduces smoke inhalation. By removing smoke inhalation entirely, you are making it safer than cigarettes. If you had the same things in each, it would be safer not to inhale smoke and instead inhale the vapor.
The second thing is the known components of e-cigarettes. The vapor from e-cigarettes is effectively nicotine with a little bit of flavoring in it to make the delivery easier. While nicotine is the main reason that people smoke cigarettes, nicotine used to be burned off through the tobacco. Without tobacco, nicotine is far less harmful to the body and only has the negative effects of developing a habit of it.
Finally, there is a carcinogenic reduction. This point, while being a combination of the previous two points, still needs to be noted. You inhale far fewer carcinogens in e-liquid than you do in a single cigarette. The carcinogen count is low and by no means qualified safe, but you intake far fewer carcinogens than by conventional smoking.
The biggest criticism that is vaping receives from the medical community is that it is a non-solution. Their perception is that ‘people should stop smoking, they shouldn’t find an alternative for smoking.’ So while it is true that vaping is across the board much safer than smoking, it doesn’t change the fact that people are still inhaling carcinogens and nicotine.
Vaping is the alternative to smoking, the people who want to quit smoking will either quit on their own or settle into vaping. That pitfall is what scares doctors and medical professionals away from the idea. But that is also the plight of those who are addicted to smoking. They perceive this as an on/off switch. Some people are incapable of quitting smoking. The criticisms for those who vape instead of smoking is because they believe that quitting outright is better.
But when the argument between vaping and smoking is that you should quit both, it’s as harmful as saying you should abstain to avoid STI’s. Yeah not doing either ensures that you aren’t going to receive a deadly disease, but it’s still not nearly as fun as just doing it safely.
Source:
http://www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/vape-debate-electronic-cigarettes
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_cigarette#Positions_of_medical_organizations
http://tobaccoharmreduction.org/faq/nicotine.htm
