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Are e-cigarettes healthier?

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John Sweet once smoked two packs of cigarettes per day until a chance visit to a Clearwater flea market in early May led him to the latest nicotine alternative.
For $50 he purchased a battery-powered electronic cigarette — a device that comes in many shapes and sizes and in different price ranges.
With the push of a button, the e-cigarette heats a nicotine-infused propylene glycol fluid, turning it into a vapor that’s inhaled. E-cigarette users call the act “vaping,” not smoking.
These e-cigarettes, or e-cigs for short, often look like real cigarettes, but without the lingering smoky odor. Other devices — invented and manufactured in China — look like large ink pens.
“On the spot (after seeing the e-cigarette), I decided to quit,” Sweet said.
Sweet, 44, last week upgraded his cheaper realistic-looking e-cig at Johnny Vapenhiemer E-Cigs, a Paddock Mall kiosk. He said the cheaper e-cig had a short battery life and he wanted something better.
Sweet loves vaping because it is one-fifth the cost of smoking. And despite health warnings, it’s healthier than smoking traditional cigarettes, he said.
In June, the Food and Drug Administration in the Philippines issued an advisory, warning that e-cigs have not been tested and second-hand emissions could be harmful.
“E-cigarettes contain volatile substances, including popylene glycol, flavors and nicotine, and are emitted as (a) mist or aerosol into indoor air,” according to the June 26 advisory.
The advisory stated the FDA in that country cannot exclude adverse health risks from second-hand emission exposure. However, that agency conceded that e-cig devices produce fewer harmful chemicals than conventional cigarettes.
In the United States, the FDA is moving to release for public comment a proposed rule to regulate additional categories of tobacco products, such as e-cigarettes. FDA officials said they cannot comment on the contents of the proposed rule. Official noted in a statement that “further research is needed to assess the potential public health benefits and risks of electronic cigarettes and other novel tobacco products.”
At the e-cig kiosk in Paddock Mall, owner Johnny Mays — who calls himself Johnny Vapor, master vaporologist — defended the world’s fastest-growing tobacco trend.
Mays held a 48-page e-cigarette study commissioned by the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association (TVECA).
He inhaled an e-cig, one of two that comes in a kit with a battery charger and bottle of fluid, called e-juice, for $64.95. Mays carries e-juice in 60-plus flavors, from tobacco to strawberry.
Users squirt a few drops of fluid into a small tank. The battery heats the e-juice to 92 degrees. With a push of a button, users inhale vapor through a mouthpiece.
Mays says the industry is misunderstood and that e-cigs are much safer than traditional cigarettes.
“Cigarettes have thousands of harmful chemicals; e-juice has one chemical,” Mays said as he helped Sweet pick a red e-cigarette kit.
June’s advisory came three years after the agency attempted to block the sale of e-cigarettes all together in the United States. The FDA claimed that an e-cigarette was a drug device and should be regulated as a heavily scrutinized medicine, not a tobacco product.
The federal court ruled e-cigarettes do fall under the FDA’s tobacco regulations. After all, nicotine comes from the leaf and stems of tobacco.
Tom Kiklas, co-founder of TVECA, maintains that e-cigarettes are not being touted as a cessation product, like nicotine lozenges, patches and gum. Therefore, e-cigs can be marketed like any other tobacco product.
The American Lung Association doesn’t buy Kiklas’ claims. Erika Sward, American Lung Association’s vice president of national advocacy, said e-cigs have not been thoroughly studied and no one really knows the chemical content in the e-juice. She also criticized the FDA and the Obama Administration for not moving fast enough in regulating e-cigarettes.
“The American Lung Association is very concerned about the potential health impacts of e-cigarettes,” said Sward, adding another big concern is the product is being marketed to children. “When I see a product with a cotton candy flavor, I don’t think that is for adults.”
Sward said there is also ample proof that e-cigarette companies are marketing the products as a tobacco cessation aide.
Kiklas said manufacturers of cessation products, not the tobacco industry, is leading the charge against e-cigarettes. Most tobacco manufacturers are — or soon will be — joining the e-cigarette market after tobacco sales declined by 5 percent last year.
Kiklas said regular tobacco cigarettes have 7,000 chemicals, 600 of which become carcinogens when ignited. E-cigarettes only have five basic ingredients: nicotine, flavoring, water, glycerol and propylene glycol — less than one half of 1 percent of the harmful chemicals, he said. Propylene glycol has caused concern among e-cig opponents because it is an ingredient in anti-freeze. Kiklas said the ingredient, which has long been approved by the FDA, is in many products, including asthma inhalers and food since the 1930s.
Health officials said since the product is not regulated — or even properly studied — then who knows officially what e-juice contains from one manufacturer to another. The Florida Department of Health’s Tobacco Free Florida agency stated it “is wary of any perceived benefits.” The agency noted there is no credible medical or scientific research to support the safety of e-cigs.
“Preliminary research from the FDA revealed that some e-cigarettes contain toxic substances and carcinogens, which are known to cause cancer,” the state health department noted.
The group Americans for Nonsmoker’ Rights (ANR) cited the Indoor Air journal study. The study showed nicotine causes the formation of carcinogens — including formaldehyde — when exhaled indoors, and could remain on surfaces for weeks. Users could then absorb the carcinogens.
“The authors (of the study) concluded the e-cigarettes are a new source of chemical and aerosol exposure and their potential impact is a concern that should be investigated,” the statement noted.
ANR’s immediate concern is the use of e-cigs at smokefree locations, like the workplaces and restaurants.
Evelyn James, health education specialist with the Florida Department of Health in Marion County (once called the Marion County Health Department), said e-cigarettes have not been studied.
James urged potential users not to “replace one product that has been proven to be bad for you” for another that has not even been tested.
The FDA’s June advisory comes as the popularity of e-cigarettes is starting to gain worldwide momentum.
E-cigarettes is a $500 million industry, a minute share of the annual $80 billion U.S. tobacco market. The e-cigarette market has grown globally by 30 percent in the past three consecutive years.
Marion County resident Jan Spagnol, an opiate user who has been clean for one year, said during her recovery, she has relied heavily on cigarettes. Last week, she purchased an e-cig kit from Mays to ratchet down her nicotine intake.
E-juice comes in different strengths, ranging from 24 milligrams of nicotine per milliliter down to zero. One 12 milliliter bottle, which costs $8.99 at the Paddock Mall kiosk, will last a one-pack-per-day light cigarette smoker about two weeks.
The e-cigarette device itself can be reused. The consumer will also have to buy a replacement tank for $6.99 about once a month, depending on usage.
In the end, a one-pack-per-day light cigarette smoker will spend about $25 per month vaporing, compared to about $150 per month smoking.
“I wanted a way to wean myself off cigarettes,” she said, adding that nicotine patches was one option.
She decided against patches because e-cigarettes allow her to still inhale and exhale, retaining that oral fixation associated with cigarettes.
“After I quit smoking, I really will be clean and sober,” she noted.
http://www.ocala.com/article/20130717/ARTICLES/130719745/-1/entertainment02?p=5&tc=pg

E-cigarette maker targets Colorado

By Carol McKinley
Colorado Public News
The arrival of electronic cigarettes has raised a red flag for health officials and others who worry the activity of “vaping” nicotine will hook young people into a new addiction that could last a lifetime.

In Colorado, the concern is heightened by the arrival of tobacco giant R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. Beginning this month, the maker of Camel cigarettes and other tobacco products began selling its new e-cigarette – called Vuse – along Colorado’s Front Range as one of four test markets.
“We’ve done a lot of work to make it not cool to smoke, and we’d hate to see that rolled back,” said Stephanie Walton, youth policy coordinator for the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
Pat Senecal, director of health policy and systems at San Juan Basin Health Department in Durango, said Friday that the Federal Drug Administration is worried about test marketing and availability of e-cigarettes.
“The FDA has no regulatory authority yet over e-cigarettes, so the risks aren’t known,” Senecal said. “E-cigarettes have flavoring, and studies of other tobacco products show that flavoring appeals to youths.”
The Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment said in a statement Friday: “Too much remains unknown about the potential health risks of these new nicotine products. We are concerned that the tobacco industry is introducing yet another product to Coloradans that is addictive and potentially harmful to their health.”
Also known as personal vaporizers, e-cigarettes broke into the American market six years ago. They look like cigarettes, but do not contain tobacco. They actually are battery-operated inhalers that turn nicotine into a vapor. The liquid, or “E-Juice” that is vaporized can carry a range of tasty-sounding flavors such as cotton candy and peach and names like “Bikini Martini” and “Choco Loco.” E-cigarettes aren’t “smoked,” they are “vaped.”
Studies long have determined that nicotine is as addictive as heroin and cocaine, leaving health officials such as Walton concerned.
“If children see e-cigarettes as popular and fun and start using them, that can lead to a lifetime of nicotine addiction,” she said.
Many Americans report they’ve never heard of e-cigarettes, but the industry now is generating $500 million in sales annually. Business is expected to surpass $1 billion annually within the next couple of years.
E-cigarettes generally are sold in places where tobacco products are available, as well as in specialty shops and in shopping malls. Since at least 2009, the federal Food and Drug Administration has warned about potential health risks associated with e-cigarettes. In addition to nicotine, the products contain substances such as propylene glycol and artificial flavors that might, the agency warns, penetrate deeply into the lungs. However, the products – at least for now – are not regulated.
More than a dozen states, including Colorado, have banned the sale of e-cigarettes to minors. But Walton and others are concerned that advertising, and the tasty-sounding flavors, will directly appeal to young people.
“We would love to see the FDA look into this, especially with some of the larger tobacco companies really taking an interest in these products now,” Walton said.
But some vendors who sell e-cigarettes say they promote the product as a healthier alternative to traditional cigarettes and a way to wean people off of tobacco products.
Within three days of last summer’s mass shooting in Aurora, Colorado-based e-cigarette company VeppoCig.com began offering trial kits for free to anyone who had been at the theater and was suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Above all, we are a company that cares for the health of our customers. We understand that they are going through a difficult time, and we want to help,” the company announced.
John Paul Pollock of The Vapor Store in Golden described e-cigarettes as “a dignified alternative for people who smoke.”
However, Walton rejects comparison to other stop-smoking products – such as the FDA-approved nicotine patch and nicotine-infused gum.
“There is no research that shows that (e-cigarettes) are an effective cessation or stop-smoking aid or device,” she said.
Still, e-cigarettes are catching on worldwide. A recent survey found that nearly 10 percent of Parisian schoolchildren between the ages of 12 and 17 have tried them. There are many active e-cigarette forums and Facebook pages. One website discussion in Colorado asks if people can “vape” in casinos in the mountain gambling town of Black Hawk and advertises meet-ups where fellow “vapors” can connect.
Because e-cigarettes are not a tobacco product, companies can get around 42-year-old laws that ban cigarette advertising. Currently, the largest concentration of e-cigarette ads is online. But with big companies such as R.J. Reynolds entering the marketplace, some predict advertising on TV, radio and billboards is not far behind.
“By around August, we should start seeing significant TV advertising, as well as online,” said Colorado-based marketing executive Brent Green. In addition, he said, “there will be live sampling at nightclubs and festivals where people gather.”
Green, a critic of e-cigarettes, highlighted the dangers of romanticizing e-cigarettes. For example, recently, actor Leonardo DiCaprio was seen vaping in public.
“You show celebrities, you show cool adults using the product – kids always aspire to act and react like adults. They want to be grown up,” said Green.
It is unclear why R.J. Reynolds selected Colorado as its test market for the new product. During a recent press conference, R.J. Reynolds Vapor Co. president Stephanie Cordisco would say only that “Colorado represents just one of our major states as we are rolling this out.”
Company officials did not return subsequent calls from Colorado Public News.
Even the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment says it can’t get a definitive answer as to why Colorado was selected.
“We’re not sure why. We would love to know,” said Walton.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports nearly 1 in 5 Coloradans smoke cigarettes, ranking the state 10th nationally.
Durango Herald Staff Writer Dale Rodebaugh contributed to this report. Colorado Public News, a nonprofit news organization, reports on issues of statewide interest. It partners with Colorado Public Television 12, Denver’s independent PBS station.
http://durangoherald.com/article/20130713/NEWS01/130719776/E-cigarette-maker-targets-Colorado