Ever since e-cigarettes became a popular alternative to smoking cigarettes, the vaping debate has remained energetically ablaze. Unfortunately, a campaign of mudslinging from the anti-vaping camp has resulted in a misinformed and misguided public. The positive effects of vaping have been conveniently left out of the national conversation even as groups push for excessive bans. Here, we’re going to uncover some well-founded vaping facts everyone should know.
Vaping is less harmful than smoking.
Ironically, vaping detractors are making more noise about the supposed negative effects of e-cigarettes than the well-established and deadly consequences of smoking cigarettes. There’s a clever sleight of hand being played by the anti-vaping camp as they simultaneously claim the science is settled on the downsides of vaping and, in the same breath, warn about what we have yet to learn about this new trend.
In reality, the science is in on the health effects of vaping in comparison with cigarettes, and it’s not what the naysayers want to hear. According to Public Health England, vaping is a minimum of 95% less harmful than cigarette smoking. The American National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and the British Royal College of Physicians fall in line on this point, not because of any financial or political interests, but simply because it’s what the science has revealed.
Vapor doesn’t leave a nasty smell.
Smoke holds onto everything it touches for dear life. Clothes, furniture, carpets, walls, car fabric…you name it – smoke will linger forever no matter how hard you try to get the nasty stench out. This is yet another area where vaping wins over traditional cigarette smoking. Quite the contrary, some vaping products actually have a good smell.
The big difference is that this is on purpose as opposed to cigarettes which emit a foul odor as an unavoidable byproduct, not a conscious decision to improve the experience. This might not be a hard-hitting statistic, but it’s an important fact to keep in mind as anti-vaping crowds love to complain about the lifestyle implications of e-cigarettes.
Users control the nicotine level.
The most egregious untruth targeted at vaping is the baseless claim that e-cigarettes by definition contain nicotine, essentially equating them with traditional cigarettes. A quick browse at a line of vaping products online or in a store is enough to expose this claim as a naked lie. Vaping products come in a wide variety of nicotine strengths, giving the user complete control over how much they consume. There are high levels of potency all the way down to no nicotine at all. This variety allows for the critical digression of nicotine consumption that smokers need when trying to quit.
The benefits of vaping are being actively suppressed.
If you’re surprised by these positive facts about vaping, it’s not because you’re out of the loop. Unfortunately, powerful interest groups actively surpress any information that could be deemed pro-vaping in an effort to dissuade the public from using it. This isn’t hysteria drummed up by those in favor of adult-use vaping either. A paper published in the highly respected American Journal of Public Health by a number of prominent doctors notes:
“While evidence suggests that vaping is currently increasing smoking cessation, the impact could be much larger if the public health community paid serious attention to vaping’s potential to help adult smokers, smokers received accurate information about the relative risks of vaping and smoking, and policies were designed with the potential effects on smokers in mind. That is not happening.”
Anti-vaping policies can deter people from quitting smoking.
It’s been proven that vaping is a highly effective and viable means to aid in smoking cessation, despite what anti-vaping lobbyists and activists might claim. Another critical point made in the aforementioned study that shouldn’t go unnoticed is that overreaching policies attempting to keep children from vaping can actually decrease the likelihood of adults using this highly effective strategy.
It’s obvious how an outright ban would lead to that unintended yet disastrous consequences, but even more tepid policies could have a detrimental effect. For example, the banning of certain flavorings could prevent adults from picking up the habit of vaping and preventing their cigarette recovery attempts altogether.
If you’re a manufacturer or seller of vaping products in Oregon, your way of life is being actively threatened by misguided activists, lying politicians, and corrupt media. It’s time to take a stand against this onslaught of untruthful claims, mudslinging, and excessive bans. The Vaping Association of Retailers (VAR) is on a mission to protect the rights of retailers and consumers across Oregon. Visit www.var21.org today to see how we can help.
