Is Vaping an Alternative to Smoking?
Tobacco and the idea of smoking have been around for centuries. In the modern world, cigarettes are by far the most popular tobacco smoking products. Millions of people worldwide smoke at least one cigarette daily, while many more go above 5 to 6 per day.
But things changed for many when a revolutionary new product was introduced into the market by a Chinese man named Hon Lik. He was a smoker and a pharmacist who worked on the idea of e-cigarettes and created one of the earliest devices of its kind back in 2003.
Many people have dreamt of and created similar devices in the past, one dating as far back as 1927, but Lik was the one who kickstarted the trend, from where it spread worldwide. But it also sparked an age-long debate on whether vaping is better than smoking. The answer is still not clear even when various dab pen devices for sale are available globally.
Subjective thoughts
Much research has been done to allay the fears of people afraid that vaping is worse than smoking. An expert from Johns Hopkins has, in his comparison, stated that these are less impactful as compared to traditional cigarettes due to the lack of tar and many chemicals that are harmful to human consumption.
While many people are against vaping, there has been no concrete evidence to suggest that vaping is more harmful than smoking. It is also not proven that adverse effects from vaping can be lethal enough to outrank the effects of smoking traditional cigarettes.
Rising popularity
Smoking has been around for centuries, but even today, a large part of the world population stays away from smoking cigarettes due to its harmful effects. But when it comes to vaping, many non-smokers have started it due to a lack of chemicals and the component of burning tobacco and inhaling smoke directly.
This has become a massive reason for non-smokers to start vaping and an essential factor for traditional cigarette smokers to cut down or move towards eventually quitting. The latest tobacco usage trends report by US FDA shows vaping as the most popular tobacco consumption method, with around 2.06 million citations. Cigarettes followed vaping with 410,000 citations. Combined with other data from the report, it indicates that e-cigarettes are gaining popularity compared to cigarette smoking. The popularity may be based on the fact that fewer chemicals and no tar are involved in vaping compared to cigarettes.
Benefits apart from health-related matters
Vaping has also been popular for reasons apart from health-related topics and the matter of quitting. Many people have found that vaping does not have various other issues commonly associated with smoking cigarettes. These include:
No lingering smells:
Vaping does not leave the traditional tobacco smoke-like smell in clothes, adding to the presentability factor in office or work environments.
No irritating aftertaste:
Vaping is based on vaporizing the e-cigarette liquid, which helps avoid the troubling aftertaste that is generally left by cigarettes.
Variety of options:
Due to the e-cigarette liquid component, manufacturers have the liberty of adding a huge variety of flavors to vapes. These offer a great taste to the user and allow them the comfort of choice from a vast range.
Options for avoiding nicotine:
Similar to the case of flavor variety, manufacturers also offer e-cigarette liquids with and without nicotine added. It allows people with different preferences to choose comfortably, depending upon various factors, including cases where people monitor their nicotine intake.
Vaping as a replacement for smoking
Vaping has been touted as a comfortable way to quit smoking, but many people disagree with the idea. But more than enough claims support the idea, ranging from people claiming to quit smoking due to vaping to studies. As per research, it was found that vaping or e-cigarettes are a more effective way for people to quit smoking cigarettes as compared to a traditional nicotine replacement therapy. As per the study, a whopping 18% of the participants quit smoking due to the use of e-cigarettes or vaping. Another survey on vaping showed that 12.9% of the smokers from their selected data who used e-cigarettes could quit smoking in the long term.
Lesser risk overall in vaping
A 2018 study published by UK health authorities has stated that when compared to smoking, vapes have far lesser chemicals. It adds that the risk of cardiovascular and lung diseases has not been calculated but appears far less than smoking.
Conclusion
Vaping may have been proven to be not entirely free of any health risks, but the risks are minimal compared to cigarettes. Additionally, there is more than enough evidence that vaping is also an effective way to quit smoking.
As for the availability of products, there is a wide range of vaping products available in the market, and one can choose from them as per their convenience and preferences. Since vaping is not entirely free of health risks, it is advised to read the contents of the vape devices and e-cigarette liquids you buy to determine the scope of nicotine.