Opinions on vaping vary widely in different parts of the world. Some view it as an unknown alternative to smoking, with potentially-harmful side effects we don’t yet know about, while many view it as a smart alternative to smoking.
One man from Berkeley, Professor Stephen D Sugarman, has taken a refreshing approach based on common sense. He has written an op-ed piece that has been picked up by many sources, encouraging more people to take up vaping to help reduce the number of people who are smoking.
15% of American adults are smokers
This is one of the first facts the professor hits us with in the report. He then goes on to mention that over 480,000 Americans die from smoking-related conditions annually. That is a stark figure.
It is no surprise then to read that many smokers in America want to stop the habit – and Professor Sugarman suggests vaping is the ideal way to help them do this. He compares how a cigarette is smoked to the process of vaping, too. When cigarettes are smoked, the tobacco is burned, releasing harmful smoke as it does so. Conversely, there is no tobacco present in electronic cigarettes. So, while they both contain nicotine – the addictive substance that keeps people smoking even when they want to stop – this is not the enemy.
Putting e-cigs in the same category as cigarettes
Unfortunately, the US Food and Drug Administration has put vaping in the same category as smoking. Vaping liquids and e-cigarettes are viewed as being tobacco products, but this is incorrect, as there is no tobacco in vaping products.
All the evidence, as the Professor notes, points to vaping as being far safer – perhaps 20 times safer, according to evidence – than smoking. It should therefore be the ideal method smokers can use to help them quit tobacco smoking. And yet the official American line is that it is just as bad as smoking.
Another notable fact included in Professor Sugarman’s op-ed piece is that teen smoking rates in the US have dropped significantly since vaping came onto the scene. This blows a certain theory out of the water – the theory that vaping encourages kids to smoke, when in fact, it looks as if the opposite is true.
What are your views on the professor’s report? Do you agree with him? Are you frustrated that vaping is often included in the same category as smoking?
