E-Cigs and Vape Pens

Since e-cigarettes first came on the market in 2007, big tobacco companies have done everything they can to either purchase e-cigarette companies or put them out of business. This is because the court decision in 2006 that arose because of the RICO action taken against Big Tobacco puts severe limits on what tobacco companies can say about cigarettes and how they can sell them. In order to maintain their profits, tobacco companies needed to find a new product to sell.

E-cigarettes, because they do not fall under the rules of the court decision, offer tobacco companies a way to return to the past. Just as they did in the early days of cigarette advertising, tobacco companies are marketing e-cigarettes as safe and a good alternative to combustion cigarettes. But, are they really safer?

Before scientists can draw conclusions about the safety of any item, they need to compile lots of data. They need to be able to study the health of many, many people over a long period of time. E-cigarettes have not been around long enough to provide scientists with the data they need. Right now, all scientists can say for sure is that e-cigarettes contain chemicals that are known to be harmful, and that the nicotine in e-cigarettes makes them addictive. Cancer and other diseases take many years to develop, even in combustion cigarette smokers. Because e-cigarettes are so new, scientists are unable to say if they cause cancer the same way that combustion cigarettes do. It will be years before scientists will be able to say if e-cigarettes are safer than combustion cigarettes. Maybe they are. But it is just as possible that e-cigarettes will turn out to be even more harmful to health than combustion cigarettes.

Just as there are many different harmful chemicals in combustion cigarettes, there are many different harmful chemicals in e-cigarettes. We know what the effects of each of these chemicals are, but we cannot be sure about how mixing them together might cause even more harm. That is known as synergy. You can think of synergy as a crazy kind of math where one plus one does not equal two, but rather equals three, or four, or five. The harmful effect of two chemicals consumed at the same time is not always the effect of one plus the effect of the second. Often, two chemicals that are ingested at the same time cause even greater harm.

One thing we know for sure is that tobacco companies need to find new customers, and the best new customers are young people. We know that tobacco companies cannot be trusted to tell the truth. In fact, as we learned from the RICO case, they can be counted on to lie. They will stop at nothing to convince young people to buy their products, and once you have become addicted to nicotine, you are a virtual slave to them, They know that kids spend a lot of time using social media, so they exploit social media to promote their products. They spend millions of dollars and use celebrities that kids admire to promote their products. You have learned the truth about combustion cigarettes, e-cigarettes, and tobacco companies. In the end, it is you who has the power to remain healthy and avoid the use of tobacco and other products that contain nicotine.

You are responsible for knowing the information explained above. You are also responsible for knowing the information that was contained in the Powerpoint presentations we reviewed in class. All three are attached below. Please be sure to read the speaker's notes that are below each of the slides!

You should have been taking notes in class during the Powerpoint presentations. Not everything I explained about the slides is included in the speaker's notes below the slides, and not everything that is included in the speaker's notes was discussed in class.

You should also review the information about addiction and nicotine.

There is no practice test for this unit. You may, however, choose to play the Kahoot! games that are at the end of two of the Powerpoint presentations. In addition to all three Powerpoint presentations from class, a Study Guide is attached below.