Smoking electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has become the trendy way to attempt to quit smoking. Brands are abundant and available in stores and online. Celebrities are using them and endorsing them. Purveyors of e-cigarettes are even opening “vapor lounges” across the country where e-cigarette users have a place to purchase and smoke.
So what exactly are they? E-cigarettes are battery powered devices that simulate regular cigarette smoking by turning a liquid solution, often containing nicotine, into vapor. With each inhalation the liquid is heated, releasing water vapor instead of smoke. There is no combustible element like in traditional cigarettes and they come in a range of flavors, from tobacco to mint to pina colada.
E-cigarettes are promoted as aids to assist tobacco cigarette smokers in kicking their habit. Given their popularity, one would expect these assertions to be true, but researchers at the University of California San Francisco think otherwise. In a research letter published this month in JAMA Internal Medicine, the UCSF study shows that e-cigarette users are no more likely to quit smoking regular cigarettes one year later than those who did not use them.
Researchers suggest regulation in the promotion of e-cigarettes as smoking cessation aids until further research is conducted. Dr. Mitchell Katz, JAMA Internal Medicine Editor, furthered this assertion by adding, “…there is potential harm. In particular, e-cigarettes are currently unregulated. Therefore, the tough restrictions on the sale of tobacco do not exist for e-cigarettes…[they] should be regulated by the US Food and Drug Administration as a drug delivery system.”
Of particular concern is the habit that young people may be developing from easy access to these electronic nicotine delivery systems. Another earlier study by UCSF researchers concluded that e-cigarette use by teens may be a gateway to smoking real cigarettes. Someone might want to pass that information along to mom, and Blu e-cigarette spokesmodel, Jenny McCarthy.
