Just like Joe Camel, e-cigs’ popularity is due to the “cool” factor. That’s what Michael Steinberg from the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School found when he conducted a study comparing e-cigs and nicotine inhalers. E-cigs were also considered more satisfying and helpful in trying to quit smoking. Steinberg believes that their popularity and “cool” factor is due to better marketing on TV and social media.
“E-cigarettes have the potential to be important nicotine delivery products because of their high acceptance and perceived benefit, but more data are needed to evaluate their actual efficacy and safety,” Steinberg said. “Physicians have the potential to be an important source for answers about e-cigarettes that may influence the public’s perceptions and use of these products.”
In the April/May issue of FM magazine, we addressed e-cigs in our article, “The Vaping Question,” and the uncertainty around e-cigs’ advantages or disadvantages.
“My impression is that a big part of the popularity of e-cigs now is that they represent a way for smokers to access nicotine in places where smoking is prohibited,” said Dr. Chad Babcock, an Austin, Texas-based physician. “Those anti-smoking laws are in place because it’s been well established for years now that there are significant health problems associated with second-hand smoke exposure. E-cigs are new enough that they aren’t specifically prohibited in the same way, but that’s not because they’re necessarily safer. We just don’t have the data yet to know what effects, if any, they have on passive exposure.”
Please read the article to find out how some venue managers are addressing e-cig use in their facilities. And please share your thoughts with us in the comments section about e-cigs.
(Image: Flickr CC/BigMikeYeah)
