MARYHILL COLLEGE, INC.

Higher Education Department

Lucena City

ANALYSIS ON CIGARETTES AND E- CIGARETTES

 MARYHILL COLLEGE, INC.
Higher Education Department
Lucena City

Cecilio, Shawn
Himor, Jay- An
Mejes, Marianne
Salazar
Salvosa Javen Ann Marie

December 2019

INTRODUCTION

The e-cigarette, short of course for electronic cigarette, is a technology that is

currently in the process of proliferating within the context of the contemporary world Some

stakeholders have suggested that this is a very good thing, whereas others have condemned

it as a public health relapse.

CIGARETTES AND E- CIGARETTES CONTENTS

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Higher Education Department
Lucena City

A cigarette, of course, is a thin cylinder of paper that is wrapped around

tobacco and is ignited in order to deliver the nicotine within the tobacco into

the body of the smoker. Although the idea of smoking tobacco, in general, has

existed for a very long time, most sources indicate that the invention of the

modern cigarette as it is presently known can be traced back to the late

nineteenth-century United States.

Cigarettes have since enjoyed great popularity all throughout the twentieth

century. By the last couple decades of the twentieth century, though, the health

effects of smoking tobacco became increasingly well-known and cigarette sales

became increasingly regulated, the practice of smoking has seen a stark drop

in popularity. This is exemplified, for instance, by current laws in many cities

that prevent patrons from smoking inside bars or restaurants (see Robertson).

Boulange, Seattle’s Best Coffee, Tazo, Evolution Fresh, and Teavana brands.

HEALTH IMPLICATIONS ON E- CIGARETTES

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Higher Education Department
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In this context, the e-cigarette has often been presented as a more healthful nicotine delivery

mechanism. The advocacy group Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights has objectively

summarized the technology of e-cigarettes in the following way:

"E-cigarettes are devices designed to mimic cigarettes. The metal tubes are designed to

look like real cigarettes and contain a cartridge filled with a nicotine-laced liquid that is

vaporized by a battery-powered heating element" (paragraph 1).

The most notable difference between the traditional cigarette and the e-cigarette consists of

the obvious fact that the e-cigarette produces no smoke; the user merely inhales and exhales

nicotine vapor. This, in addition to the fact that there is no actual combustion occurring when

one smokes an e-cigarette, has led at least some stakeholders to suggest that e-cigarettes are

far less harmful toward the user's health than is the traditional cigarette.

SCIENTIFIC DATA MEASURING E-CIGARETTES DANGERS

The scientific evidence regarding the health effects of e-cigarettes would seem to confirm the

common sense view that given that e-cigarettes do not produce actual smoke, they cannot

possibly be as bad for one's health as traditional cigarettes. For example, Sullum has quoted

one study as having reached the conclusion:

"Analysis of the smoke from conventional cigarettes showed that the mainstream

cigarette smoke delivered approximately 1500 times more harmful and potentially
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harmful constituents (HPHCs) tested when compared to e-cigarette aerosol or to puffing

room air" (paragraph 4).

This is a pretty dramatic finding, to be sure. The reservation admittedly should be lodged that

it is as of yet unclear what effects the specific chemicals found in the nicotine vapor of e-

cigarettes may have on the lungs of users over the long term. However, it would seem to be

quite clear that whatever the effects may be, they surely could not be as bad as those caused

by the compendium of chemicals present in traditional cigarette smoke.

Such relative (as opposed to absolute) assessments are in fact very much in order when

evaluating the health effects of e-cigarettes, due to the simple fact that one of the primary

uses of the e-cigarette is that of smoking cessation aid. As Farsalinos and Polosa have put it:

"Currently available evidence indicates that electronic cigarettes are by far a less

harmful alternative to smoking and significant health benefits are expected in smokers

who switch from tobacco to electronic cigarettes" (paragraph 1).

Again, nicotine is a highly addictive substance and most smokers who try to quit end of

failing countless times before even approaching success. In this context, replacing the

traditional cigarette with the e-cigarette for these smokers could be an excellent way to help

them succeed at giving up smoking. And as for nonsmokers who may jump into nicotine use

with e-cigarettes alone, the point can perhaps be made that there is nothing the matter with

grown adults choosing to make use of a legal and relatively safe drug for recreational

purposes.
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Higher Education Department
Lucena City

SOLUTION

Despite the scientific evidence discussed above, e-cigarettes have met with

condemnation from various stakeholders. The group Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights, for

example, has flatly declared that e-cigarettes are no safer than traditional cigarettes—a claim

that is just as flatly contradicted by the extant empirical evidence on this subject.

It is quite clear that groups such as this one seem to hate the very concept of the cigarette

almost on principle, or on ideological grounds: they cannot stand the cigarette, and they thus

apparently also cannot stand anything that looks like or resembles a cigarette. There would

seem to be no rational, scientific, or even basis for this kind of opposition to e-cigarettes.

Rather, the opposition would seem to be founded on purely aesthetic or ideological grounds.

CONSLUSION

On the basis of the above discussion, a clear conclusion that can be drawn at the end of this

present case study is that e-cigarettes are in fact far less hazardous to one's health than

traditional cigarettes. Both common sense and the scientific evidence support this idea.

Reviewing the stakeholder responses against and in favor of e-cigarettes, it is self-evident

that the people who are trying to frame e-cigarettes as being just as bad for the user's health

as traditional cigarettes are blatantly ignoring what the best evidence thus far has to say about

this matter.
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Higher Education Department
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They are presumably doing so on the basis of some kind of vaguely puritanical ideology,

according to which substance use, in general, is to be prohibited, no matter how relatively

safe the substance and no matter what public health advantages could emerge from it. In

short, the stakeholders who oppose e-cigarettes would simply seem to have an irrational

hatred of anything resembling a cigarette. Although that sounds comical, there is in truth

really no better way to summarize the matter.

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Higher Education Department
Lucena City

REFERENCES

American Cancer Society. "Carcinogens in Tobacco Products." Author, 12 Nov. 2015.

Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/tobaccocancer/carcinogens-found-in-tobacco-

products.

Americans for Nonsmokers' Rights. "Electronic Cigarettes." Author, Jul. 2015. Web. 24 Mar.

2016. http://www.no-smoke.org/getthefacts.php?id=824.

Farsalinos, Konstantinos E., and Riccardo Polosa. "Safety Evaluation and Risk Assessment

of Electronic Cigarettes as Tobacco Cigarette Substitutes: A Systematic Review."

Therapeutic Advances in Drug Safety 5.2 (2014): 67-86. Web. 24 Mar. 2016.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4110871/.

Robertson, Campbell. "New Orleans Bars Issue Last Call for Smoking." New York Times.

22 Apr. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2015/04/23/us/new-orleans-

smoking-ban.html.

Ross, Gilbert. "The Anti E-Cigarette Conspiracy." National Review. 12 Mar. 2014. Web. 24

Mar. 2016. http://www.nationalreview.com/article/373157/anti-e-cigarette-conspiracy-

gilbert-ross.
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Siegel, Michael. "With E-Cigarettes, What's Not to Like?" New York Times. 20 Aug. 2013.

Web. 24 Mar. 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2013/08/20/the-ambiguous-

allure-of-the-e-cig/with-e-cigarettes-whats-not-to-like.

Sullum, Jacob. "Study Confirms that E-Cigarettes Generate Virtually No Toxins." Reason. 4

Mar. 2015. Web. 24 Mar. 2016. http://reason.com/blog/2015/03/04/study-confirms-that-e-

cigarettes-generat.