I. How harmful is tobacco?
1. Cigarette smoke is poison.
Surely no one in the world thinks that cigarettes are beneficial. In fact, the number of people who have died from cigarettes in the last decade is greater than the total number of casualties in the two world wars combined.
There are many chemicals in cigarette smoke. “Scientists have found more than 7,000 chemicals belonging to many different groups in cigarette smoke, and 70 of them are capable of causing cancer or stimulating cancer cell growth.” - According to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
2. Risk of lung cancer, heart disease, stroke, respiratory disease and many other health problems.
The toxic substances in cigarette smoke do not stop at the lungs, but when inhaled, they will penetrate the blood through the pulmonary capillaries and cause many other dangerous diseases and complications for the circulatory system and resistance of smokers. Diseases caused by cigarettes include: lung cancer, nasopharynx, esophagus and lymph nodes, myocardial infarction, respiratory diseases and the most dangerous is "stroke while sleeping" which occurs more and more frequently in children whose parents smoke.
3. Secondhand smoke is harmful to people around you
You may have heard that smoking is 1 times more harmful than inhaling it. This is absolutely true. In addition to causing "passive smoking", cigarette smoke also lingers on objects, fingers, and the smoker's lips for a long time. These substances are commonly known as "tar" and can penetrate the skin through direct contact. "Cigarette smoke not only floats in the air but also sticks to surrounding objects and people, thereby greatly increasing the possibility of gene mutations and sudden death during sleep, especially in young children." - Posted by the US Department of Energy in the journal Environmental Science and Technology.
4. Numbers don't lie
Did you know that in Vietnam alone, 40,000 people die each year from diseases caused by tobacco, that number is equivalent to 100 people/day and is still increasing. The Vietnamese Ministry of Health estimates that by 2030, the annual death toll from tobacco will be 70,000 people.
In the UK, the number of people who die each year from tobacco is up to 80,000. Such a highly developed country still has to suffer from a persistent disease caused by tobacco. And in 2018, community organizations in this country began research to find a way to end, or at least control, the "tobacco epidemic". They put all their faith in electronic cigarettes, a method that is not new but has been suppressed for a very long time due to social prejudice.
II. The lifebuoy called "Electronic Cigarette"
1. Electronic cigarettes are 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes
One of the most important points that makes scientists believe that vaping is 95% less harmful than traditional cigarettes is that the “smoke” produced by e-cigarettes does not contain tar or toxic gases such as carbon monoxide (CO). Instead, e-cigarettes use just enough heat to vaporize essential oils and nicotine. The entire operation of e-cigarettes does not involve any “burning” process, thus avoiding the negative effects of soot and tar like in traditional cigarettes.
( Reference: What is an electronic cigarette? )
2 Is a great method to quit smoking
However, if that were all, e-cigarettes would not be considered the “most effective smoking cessation method”. Have you noticed that smoking cessation products on the market such as patches, gum, lozenges, etc. all provide nicotine to users but are not very effective in quitting smoking? That is because we have completely misunderstood the symptoms of human “addiction”, specifically tobacco addiction. Smokers not only depend on nicotine but also on the feeling of holding a cigarette in their hands, the smell of tobacco and of course the feeling of smoke passing through their throats. E-cigarettes provide users with a similar experience to cigarettes but are many times “cleaner”. From the act of bringing it to the mouth, inhaling the smoke, holding the smoke in the mouth to the tingling sensation of nicotine in the throat, all can simulate the experience of smoking that has been deeply ingrained in the subconscious but without tar, without CO and thereby avoiding countless dangerous diseases.
Public Health England has conducted many surveys and experiments and concluded that: Electronic cigarettes are the easiest method to quit smoking, the effectiveness of quitting smoking for those who use electronic cigarettes if following the correct regimen can be twice as high as other methods such as patches or throat sprays. To further reinforce this result, they gave the figure of 64.9%, this is the success rate of quitting smoking within 12 months of those who use electronic cigarettes.
( Reference: Using electronic cigarettes to quit smoking )
3. E-cigarette smoke is less harmful to people around you
Another reason why e-cigarettes are a great alternative to smoking is that the smoke they produce breaks down relatively quickly in the air. E-cigarette smoke only lasts about 45 minutes in the air and is almost harmless when it sticks to the skin. In contrast to cigarette smoke and toxins, it will solidify in the form of tar and last a long time on surrounding surfaces, causing harm to users when in contact with the skin. For this reason, some places that absolutely ban smoking such as hospitals, gyms, etc. will be able to allow vaping as long as it does not affect the people around.
4. The quality of electronic cigarettes is improving rapidly.
With the advancement of technology every day, e-cigarette products are also becoming more modern and safer than before. People have used organic cotton instead of silicate cotton, eliminating the possibility of glass fibers getting stuck in the lungs. Dangerous flavors that have the potential to cause disease have also been put on the red list of vape manufacturers. As well as the quality of essential oils is becoming more and more pure, you can completely feel that easily when comparing the experience of using essential oils produced in 2023 with essential oils in 2015, they are cleaner, more real and almost no company has to receive feedback that "their essential oils have a chemical smell" anymore.
References:
1: Chemicals in cigarette smoke .
2: Effects of smoking on health .
3: Effects of passive smoking .
4: Vietnam is one of the countries with the highest rate of male smoking in the world .
