The latest health debate pertaining to smoking is that regarding the difference between an electronic cigarette and a traditional filter cigarette. Which is better?
This is not an easy question to answer because the use of electric-powered smoking devices is so new. More research is being conducted, so for now all you can do is understand the difference between the two.
This new form of smoking is one in which a users inhales vaporized nicotine-usually flavored somehow with a traditional tobacco taste or some other popular fruit or food (i.e. coffee, strawberry, chocolate). This product has been developed in an effort to provide users with a safer alternative to breathing in carbon dioxide and other harmful fumes while smoking the traditional way.
However, is it really safer? Even though which to quit smoking have even marketed it in some cases as a means, it is said to cause its share of problems. One of the most significant is that it is still very addictive (as always because of the nicotine). Furthermore, apparently this type of cigarette has the potential to cause nicotine poisoning.
Note that neither health Canada nor the World Health Organization regards it as a safe way to curb the smoking habit. Then again, neither is the nicotine patch, which many use while transitioning out of the habit.
To counter this argument, the Health New Zealand medical journal documents the low-level presence of toxins. Yet, does state that the presence of them in an electronic cigarette is not at all at a harmful level. Therefore, according to this publication it has been regarding as a “safe alternative to smoking.”
Of course, then there is the issue of fire safety. Many of the models of this new type of smoking device actually have a timed automatic shutoff to prevent it from overheating. This helps reduce the amount of house fires that would have otherwise occurred.
So, who is right and who is wrong? Some consumers have used it and have actually been able to stop smoking. However, all consumers need to beware that it is not a completely safe alternative to traditional smoking.
The purpose of a filter cigarette was originally to help reduce the number of toxins, tar, and other fine particles breathed in while smoking. Some of the current models today are made from cellulose, while in the past they were made from crepe materials.
This was one of the first attempts to make smoking safer. The implementation of filters began in the 1960s when concern about lung disease was at an all time high.
However, that was still not enough. That is part of the reason newer forms of smoking such as the electronic cigarette exist today.
If anything, it at least gives users the illusion that they are living healthier. Whether this is true or not is yet to be determined.