The city of Calabasas, Calif. has banned all cigarette smoking and e-cigarette smoking, otherwise known as vaping, in public places except designated areas. The purpose of this action is to reduce second-hand smoke, according to the local news paper The Acorn. The health risk of vaping still remains unknown, however a recent investigation has found that e-cigarette smokers may actually be inhaling metal, according to Tulsa. In addition, more recent news about e-cigarettes being sold as an over-the-counter drug has stirred up controversy. According to a recent article by Yahoo! News, some healthcare professionals are saying that they do not see any benefit to the e-cigarette and that it will just lead individuals back to tobacco products.
Business owner and Chief Technology Officer Jay Sheikh, does not think e-cigarettes are a safe alternative to tobacco use.
“To tell you the truth there’s not a lot of data on the effects of E-Cigarettes,” Sheikh says, “but many people think E-Cigarettes are FDA approved, and that is a misconception. There is no question about the differences of taking a puff from a cigarette or hookah and a puff from an E-Cigarette, but studies have shown that these vapors, when looked at the toxicity, can have harmful effects.”
Right now, the recent news controversy with vaping lies within the young-adult generation. According to the CDC, more than a quarter of the youth who had never smoked a tobacco cigarette said that they had used electronic cigarettes in 2013.
“With the e-cig and tobacco companies marketing heavily towards younger crowds, I would have concerns that the kids and teens using e-cigarettes would transition to cigarettes or other smoke related products. There are statistics, granted that need to be studied further, showing increases in middle school children switching from e-cigarettes to actual cigarettes which, concerns me”, Sheikh states.
Consequently, Lani Wasserman, Union Camera Assistant and Los Angeles local, does not view them as a huge risk factor to youth and views e-cigarettes as a beneficial quitting device for tobacco.
“I could definitely see it being a risk to introduce adolescents to tobacco but I’d be surprised if adolescents weren’t satisfied by the vapor of e-cigs and even grossed out by the comparatively harsh smoke of tobacco”, Wasserman says, “but overall, I think the hardest part of quitting smoking, other than being a part of a social circle that smokes, is breaking the habit. An e-cigarette helps by replacing that habit in the process of quitting tobacco and smoking all together.”
To sum it up, Wasserman feels the ban on vapor pens seems unnecessary.
“I don’t smoke a vape pen- but people smoking a vape pen in my presence has never bothered me. In fact, I even made friends with a woman smoking her new e-cig on a flight in the seat next to me”, Wasserman states, “so, I appreciate the public tobacco restrictions of the last 10 years, however I do not think the same laws should be applied to e-cigarettes.”
This YouTube video depicts techniques about the new hobby of vaporizing, according to ‘VapeHappy’.