Regular smoke was the necessary evil that humans have lived with for centuries. After many deaths and misery that was health problems, the next generation came up with an alternative to regular smoke: e-cigarettes. They say it is safer than regular smoke. They say it smells better than regular smoke. They say a lot of things, but are they right? Let us break down the characteristics of regular smoke and e-cigarette into five things and compare them.
Cost
If you are a chain-smoker, you might require a whole pack of cigarettes per day. You’re going to need around thirty packs of cigarettes per month. One cigarette already costs much.
When you use e-cigarettes, you are going to need to purchase an e-cigarette device only once. You have to find an e-liquid for your e-cigarette device, and you will run out of these e-liquid months after purchase.
Health Effects
When tobacco is lit, it creates a combustion. When you smoke, you inhale the combustion. This combustion contains loads of carcinogens and other toxins that cause stroke, heart attack, and — eventually — death. Using regular smokes also creates tar in your teeth and gives you bad breath. Despite knowing these, you continue to need to smoke because the high amounts of nicotine have made you addicted.
E-cigarettes are made of tobacco e-juice and also contain nicotine but in smaller amounts. The presence of nicotine makes e-cigarettes as addictive as regular smokes. E-cigarettes are also harmful if used at high-temperatures. On the other hand, using e-cigarettes at moderate temperatures causes no further harm. E-cigarettes do not have the combustion that carries carcinogens and other toxins.
Social Acceptance
Second-hand smoke is more harmful than the smoke you get from regular smokes. This means the people around you are more in danger than you. Regular smokes are banned almost everywhere, and people find the smell of regular smokes irritating.
Because it is new and too new to create a bad reputation, e-cigarettes are not banned everywhere yet. However, a few places have already banned e-cigarettes just like regular smokes. The fragrant smoke of e-cigarettes makes them less irritating than regular smokes, but the appearance of smoke and the action of someone who’s smoking make non-smokers presume that there is no difference between regular smokes and e-cigarettes.
Long-term Effects
Using regular smokes increases the amount of nicotine and toxins in a person’s body. This decreases his life expectancy and raises his chances of getting a stroke, heart attack, and other health problems. It also worsens any pre-existing health problems, if there are any.
In February 2017, a clinical study proved that e-cigarettes have better long-term health effects in comparison with regular smokes. Smokers who have quit regular smokes and had switched to e-cigarettes had smaller amounts of nicotine and toxins in their bodies than smokers who continued to use regular smokes. Smokers of e-cigarettes had higher life expectancy and lesser chances of acquiring health problems.
Maintenance
To use regular smoke, you need a match or a lighter. You can’t even use a whole cigarette. Once it gets too small, you have to throw it away. If you don’t make sure that the fire is put out before throwing it away, the fire might get bigger and burn your whole house. Regular smokes cause a certain percentage of fire related incidents that take place every year.
You only have to press a few buttons and make a few adjustments to use an e-cigarette. You can use up a whole bottle of tobacco e-juice, and you don’t have to throw your e-cigarette away. You just have to refrain from storing your e-cigarette in a genuinely hot place because – just like what happened in two incidents in the past – its battery can explode if exposed to too much of heat. You also have to keep your e-liquid from the reach of children and pets because the nicotine is harmful.
Conclusion
E-cigarettes are cheaper, do not cause death, have a fragrant smoke, have less harmful long-term effects, and are easier to handle. E-cigarettes are still harmful, but they are a lesser evil in comparison to regular smokes. Just remember that using both e-cigarettes and regular smokes doesn’t change your health. You have to switch to e-cigarettes and abandon regular smokes forever completely.
