Health and Wellness

By Niki Bercume

Staff Writer

Once promoted as a "safer" alternative to traditional tobacco cigarettes, electronic cigarettes pose a significant health risk, studies show.

Electronic cigarette use, or vaping, has increased since e-cigarettes entered the market in the early 2000s. But rather than benefit smokers, vaping has largely helped tobacco companies. While years of research into nicotine's harmful effects depressed traditional cigarette sales, e-cigarettes have given the tobacco industry a chance to rebrand. Vaping liquid ("e-juice") comes in fun and fruity flavors, and devices give users the ability to look like dragons.

These attributes have increased vaping's appeal to young users the same way that the Marlboro Man - a cigarette ad campaign featuring a rugged cowboy - appealed to smokers decades ago. In both cases, the marketing downplayed health risks. According to the ads, Marlboro's filtered cigarettes were safer than the alternative nonfiltered.

A look at e-juice's ingredients, however, tells a different story. Traditional tobacco cigarettes contain nicotine, tar, carbon monoxide, arsenic, ammonia, and a variety of other chemicals humans do not need in their bodies. Vaping liquid has been found to contain water, nicotine, flavorings, and a propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin base. While these bases are approved by the FDA for use in various fields like cosmetics, their long-term effects on the lungs are still unknown. Vaping has also been linked to damage to the heart and lungs, with certain popular e-juice flavors posing increased risks.

One of the biggest issues is the Nicotine. The CDC reported that “Approximately two-thirds of JUUL users aged 15 – 24 do not know that JUUL always contains nicotine.” That is a scary high number.

“Nicotine,” according to the Alcohol and Drug Foundation, “is a stimulant drug that speeds up the messages traveling between the brain and body. It is the main psychoactive ingredient in tobacco products.” It is known to cause damage to the brain that controls attention, learning, mood, and impulse control, all things students need to be working properly to be successful.

While most college students fall within the 18 to 24-year-old demographic that accounts for the biggest share of e-cigarette users, institutions such as GTCC are tobacco and drug-free campuses. Scott Jaeschke, GTCC director of student conduct and community standards, indicated that vaping is not frequent on campus. “My understanding is that the college had a flood of these issues years ago when we first became a tobacco-free campus,” he said. However, it appears the issues have died down and remain low.

“The government’s power to regulate commerce doesn’t mean that harmful things aren’t still sold in stores,” Jaeschke added, urging readers to “read the warning and ingredient labels on products and try to make your own informed choices.”

It is still relatively new idea, vaping products. What is not new, or unknown is how addictive and damaging Nicotine is to our cells and body. Please make an informed decision before you continue to or begin to use these products and reach out for help if you are struggling with this or any other addiction.

For information on free, confidential, professional counseling, contact the GTCC Counseling Center.