According to the CDC, cigarette smoking has caused more than 10 times as many premature deaths among U.S. citizens than in all of the wars ever fought by the U.S. Yet while we all know that smoking is dangerous to our health, many still decide to do it anyway.
As a way to promote a safe and healthy campus, NSU adopted the tobacco-free campus policy in July 2012. The use of tobacco products are prohibited everywhere on campus, including in vehicles, parking lots/garages, the Oceanographic Center, the Museum of Art, University Park Plaza and all the Student Education Centers.
But what about the new “cool” technologies that we have today including electronic cigarettes and hookah?
Tom Vitucci, director of Recreation and Wellness, said electronic cigarettes are also banned by in NSU’s policy.
Vitucci said, “We have few reported violations of the policy. We judge success in hoping that people understand that NSU cares about the health of its community and that hopefully the policy encourages some people to attempt to quit smoking.”
Below are a few facts that clear up some of the myths we hear every day and why these forms of smoking are included in our policy here at NSU.
Vaping
Myth: Electronic cigarettes (e-cigs) only produce water vapor.
Fact: According to cigbuyer.com, the fluid cartridge contains a mixture of many different chemicals, just like a tobacco cigarette would. The fluid in the e-cigs are “vaped.” Common ingredients include propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, nicotine and flavoring. Propylene glycol has been linked to soft tissue (lungs, throat, and eye) irritation. Vegetable glycerin, even though it may have vegetable in the name, can cause organ damage. Nicotine in electronic cigarettes is still highly addictive and poisonous. Nicotine is linked to heart and circulation problems and may damage reproductive and fetal health, according to shcs.ucfavic.edu.
Myth: Smoking e-cigarettes helps tobacco smokers quit.
Fact: In 2014, according to ABC News, Thomas Kiklas, co-owner of e-cigarette maker inLife and co-founder of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, said little evidence exists to support this theory. Because e-cig smoking still involves hand-to-mouth smoking, Kiklas, said, “E-cigarettes might help transform a smoker’s harmful tobacco habits to a potentially less harmful e-smoking habit.” Many e-cigarettes are compared to nicotine patches and other smoking cessation methods. In the medical journal Lancet, a study found that this is statistically comparable in helping smokers quit over a six-month period, but FDA regulations still forbid e-cig marketers to market them as a way to kick the habit.
Myth: The sale and use of e-cigarettes/vaping is regulated by the FDA as tobacco products.
Fact: According to fda.gov, only e-cigarettes that are marketed for therapeutic purposes are currently regulated by the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. Currently, the FDA Center for Tobacco Products regulates cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco. They proposed a “deeming rule that would regulate e-cigarettes as tobacco products,” but it has not been adopted. Regulating e-cigarettes would mean they are subject to the federal prohibition on sales to minors, the federal prohibition on free sampling, federal warning label requirements and the requirement that tobacco manufacturers register with the FDA and seek the agency’s review of new tobacco products, according to changelabsoltutions.org. Even though the FDA has not moved forward yet with regulated electronic cigarettes, most state and local governments have adopted laws regulating the sale and use of e-cigarettes.
Myth: Second-hand vapor smoke is not harmful.
Fact: According to foxnews.com, a 2014 study published in the Journal of Environmental Science, Processes and Impacts found that second-hand smoke from e-cigarettes resulted in almost no release of carcinogens that are released when tobacco cigarettes burn. Even so, e-cigarette smoke did contain chromium and nickel at levels four times higher than tobacco cigarettes. Lead and zinc were also found in the smoke, but the levels were lower than in tobacco cigarettes.
Hookah
Myth: Hookah (shisha) smoke is filtered through water so it filters out harmful ingredients.
Fact: According to health.umd.edu, smoking tobacco through water does not filter out the harmful chemicals. The water-filtered smoke can damage the heart of lungs just as much as cigarette smoke does. Inhaling the hookah smoke does not burn your lungs because it is cooled through water. But it still contains carcinogens that are extremely unhealthy. Just because there are flavors, and the tobacco is mixed with honey or fruit, does not mean less nicotine or chemicals.
Myth: Hookah smoking is not as addictive as smoking a cigarette.
Fact: The tobacco in hookah does contain nicotine. In a 60-minute session, smokers are exposed from 100-200 times the volume of smoke inhaled from one cigarette, according to health.umd.edu. Hookah is socially acceptable, and unlike marijuana, if you continue to do it, it can become very addicting. It all depends on how much you expose yourself to.
Myth: Smoking hookah is healthier than smoking cigarettes.
Fact: Even though hookah smoke is generated by heating tobacco in a bowl using charcoal, while smoking a cigarette is produced by heating it, hookah is just as dangerous. Compared to one cigarette, hookah smoke contains higher levels of arsenic, lead and nickel, 36 times more tar and 15 times more carbon monoxide than cigarettes. This is said to be the case because smoking hookah requires increasing the levels of the nicotine and carcinogens inhaled into the lungs. A 45- to 60-minute hookah session can contain approximately the same amount of tar and nicotine as one package of cigarettes. The longer the session is, the more that is taken in, according to health.umd.edu.
Myth: All hookah products contain tobacco.
Fact: There are certain sweetened and flavored nontobacco products sold to use in a hookah. But studies have been shown that just because these products do not contain tobacco, preparations contain carbon monoxide and other toxins that can increase the risks of smoking-related cancers, heart and lung disease, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Just because hookah and vaping are not the conventional methods of smoking, does not mean they are safe or not as serious as smoking tobacco cigarettes.
