Electronic Cigarettes in the Media

It’s no secret that there are some obvious differences in the safety of electronic cigarettes as reported by the media when compared to the facts presented by distributors of the product. So who’s right? Would you believe both of them? If we break the argument of both sides down to the nuts and bolts of the disagreement, we will see that they are both correct and are actually comparing apples to oranges.

Distributors say, “Yes, electronic cigarettes are safer for you than traditional tobacco cigarettes.” But when the media reports on the topic, they say, “The FDA has not approved these devices and may be hazardous to your health.” See the problem yet?

This is a classic case of “lost in translation”. Both sources are simply reporting from their stance of “safety”. Reporters give the news from a non-smoking stance while distributors sell to smokers who are comparing the product to an already existing tobacco smoking habit. It may not be safer than not smoking at all, but that is yet to be proven.

Why are electronic cigarettes so blatantly safer than tobacco? In a word, combustion. When tobacco ignites, that is where the 3,000 to 4,000 harmful chemicals come from. It’s not really the plant’s fault. You could smoke anything - lettuce, broccoli, maple leaves - and create most of those same chemicals through the same simple combustion process.

So by simply eliminating the flame, we are also essentially instantly removing thousands of chemical agents, many of which are classified as carcinogens, the cancer causing agents. There is only one potentially hazardous material in e-cigarette liquid that is causing concern, and so far the tests are inconclusive on their safety but weighted heavily on the safe side.

Users of the e-cigarette have rabidly taken to the internet to tell their success stories. Countless testimonials and petitions to keep them on the market can be found in forums, on blogs, and on virtually every vendors’ website. It’s a well known fact that your sense of smell and taste as well as your overall health can return shortly after you quit smoking and these are the kind of results that people are seeing with e-cigs.

While the distributors seem rightly biased for them, the media will likely continue to carry a bias against them, at least until the FDA gets around to working something out. In the mean time, smokers will continue to have the freedom to make an educated decision for themselves and consult their doctors about the new smoke-free alternative popping up across the globe.