Robert Caba
Dr. Mary Miles
English 137H
01 December 2015
The Rise of Vape: Modern Day Smoking
Electronic-cigarettes (e-cigarettes) and vape pens has been around since 2003, but the 2010-decade allowed for a massive explosion in popularity, mainstream approval and usage. Vaping, renown for its common use as a cessation activity from harmful tobacco products, has grown into a full-blown industry. When a newly idolized three billion dollar industry starts to impact a thirty-five billion dollar industry, people start to take notice. With cigarette usage at an all-time low, vaping is at an all-time high (“Trends in Current Cigarette Smoking…”); the direct correlation brings outsiders to question “why?” The perception (and truth) of global consumers, especially among the highly impressionable teen years, is that vaping e-cigarettes are a safer and more acceptable alternative than normal cigarettes in the means of convenience as well as health and monetary benefits.
In a society where everything is built around convenience, carrying one vape can make all the difference. The notorious image of a cigarette box with 20 cigarettes, considered 2-3 days worth of use from avid smokers, has swiftly been overshadowed by variations of box mods, vape pens, and e-cigarettes-all types of devices used to vape. Cigarette’s, known for their horrible smell, has succumbed to vaping’s ability to provide different flavors resulting in different smells. These flavors, or juices, range from strawberry to a pumpkin pie to get not only the user, but also those around him into the holiday spirit. Also, to promote one’s production at work by eliminating the frequent smoke breaks or their craving for nicotine, some employers allow their workers to vape on the job. Vaping is also a much more sustainable habit than the former norm; the user no longer has to find a trash for his cigarette butt or feel guilty about litter, he can stash his vape after one puff. In terms of social approval, some professional sport venues are offering vape lounges aside from their already established designated smoking areas so these users can avoid second hand smoke. The Fighting Phils, the Double-A Eastern League affiliate of the Philadelphia Phillies, became the first baseball stadium with a vape lounge: an interesting marketing tactic, to say the least. Nonetheless, convenience is undoubtedly catching the eye of many smokers looking to fulfill their habit with something less detrimental.
Death is inevitable, but if one can prolong life while continuing their bad habit, in a different way, why not take the chances? Smoking in the traditional manner is said to take eleven minutes off of your life per cigarette; no question why that fact alone provokes millions of users a year to switch to the less harmful alternative. In the 1964 Surgeon General’s report, smoking was recognized as a cause of lung cancer in men (“Discovery of the Cigarette”). The document started the shaming of today associated with smoking tobacco products. Although not completely benign, compared to cigarettes, e-cigarettes seem harmless. In reality, the user is producing vapor rather than smoke. Vaping eliminates 4000 chemicals and carcinogens from cigarettes without taking away the sensation of smoking itself (McNeill). By leaving cigarettes filled with tar behind, users will not be left with charcoal lungs resulting in a longer and more enriching life experience. From this perspective, the ideal situation would to not pick up the habit in the first place; that is easier said than done. Nicotine creates a craving that is impossible to ignore and, although most users know exactly how harmful their habit is to everyone, cannot stop feeding their addiction. The yellow staining of teeth, awful smell, deterioration of lungs, along with many other health concerns are all major health reasons as to why this transition has been logical for many once-loyal traditional smokers to flock to the vaporized market.
With a stumbling national economy, any money saved is well saved. The price of a pack of cigarettes ranges from $5 (TN) to $15 (NY). The average smoker (one pack a day) spends 40 minutes on smoke break collectively during their workday. That equates to 170 hours and approximately $1,200 dollars lost per year (using national minimum wage) to replenish the users nicotine addiction. Aside from the loss of income, they also spend more. The average vapor spends about $500 per year on equipment and juices while the pack-a-day smoker spends upwards to $3000 on cigarettes and lighters (Wolff-Mann). The largest tobacco company in the United States, Reynolds American Inc., that operates companies that sell about 28% of all cigarettes sold in the country, suffered the largest hit from the new vaporized industry. Now, they are one of the leading manufacturer’s of said product. After profiting nearly 5 billion dollars during this one year business venture, they proposed that the FDA ban the entire industry (“Big Tobacco’s War”). The reason? Money. With less options and the ability to pack more nicotine the traditional style, users will fall back in the hands of big corporations such as Reynolds’s and spend quadruple the amount yearly. For those who want to improve their economic standing and work production, but cannot get rid of their bad habit, vaping is the best and most efficient solution.
The quick shift to e-cigarettes is causing many studies to emerge, for good reason. Like cigarettes during its birth, people currently do not know all of the benefits and drawbacks that are associated with vaping. However, a finding in the UK shows that e-cigarette usage has increased 5% from 2012-2013 (“Electronic Cigarettes”) while cigarette usage has decreased 3% (“Smoking”). This decline is in part of, but not limited to, the highly taxed and regulated cigarettes circulating the country. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) wants to place regulations in the future on the newfound device and address issues that consumers may not know such as the risks, amount of nicotine, and hidden benefits associated with using it as intended. With everything being faster now, time is as valuable as ever. No one wants to spend all their time for a smoke break and waste an entire cigarette when they could take a couple of puff’s from their e-cigarette and continue with their busy day. Vaping’s mass public approval and widespread usage, seemingly out of nowhere, has transformed the world of smoking for the better.
Works Cited
“Big Tobacco’s War on Vaping.” National Review Online. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Dec. 2015.
“Discovery of the Cigarette.” Tobacco Control. Robert Proctor, 22 Nov. 2011. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
“Electronic Cigarettes.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 23 Sept. 2014. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
Mcneill, Ann. “E-cigs vs. Tobacco.” Public Health England. King’s College London, 29 Aug. 2015. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
“Smoking (General Lifestyle Survey Overview – a Report on the 2011 General Lifestyle Survey).” – ONS. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
“Trends in Current Cigarette Smoking Among High School Students and Adults, United States, 1965–2011.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 14 Nov. 2013. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
Wolff-Mann, Ethan. “Vaping Is 95% Healthier and 40% Cheaper Than Smoking.” Time. Time, 20 Aug. 2015. Web. 30 Nov. 2015.
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