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Kylie Neff

Prof Krezter

ENG 1201

2 November 2019

Research Paper

Have you ever heard people say that using e-cigarettes is

healthier and better for you than smoking cigarettes? Most

smokers quit smoking cigarettes because they heard that vaping

is a safer option. This actually is not true. Most shops that

sell e-cigarettes used to advertise that they were the better

option for smokers, and that is was a way to make them quit

smoking. However, although it is another option for smokers,

that does not automatically mean that it is a healthier option.

E-cigarettes contain many dangerous chemicals that most people

do not know about. Most people think just because they do not

have tobacco in them that they are better. However those

chemicals in vapes are very bad for you, and many people have

been hospitalized and a lot of people have been dying recently

due to vaping. The chemicals in e-cigarettes are damaging the

human bodies. E-cigarettes also have a very high amount of

nicotine in them, making them very addicting. Therefore, vaping

is just as dangerous as smoking because they contain a high

amount of nicotine which makes them extremely addicting, they

contain lots of dangerous chemicals that can cause health

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issues, they damage your lungs just like traditional cigarettes

do.

One of the main problems with e-cigarettes is that they are

so addicting. They have a very big amount of nicotine in them.

Nicotine makes the vape extremely addicting. In an article by

John Hopkins Medicine called, “5 Vaping Facts You Need to Know,”

it suggests, “Both e-cigarettes and regular cigarettes contain

nicotine, which research suggests may be as addictive as heroin

and cocaine. What’s worse, says Blaha, many e-cigarette users

get even more nicotine than they would from a tobacco product.”

This quote from the article proves that e-cigarettes are just as

addictive as traditional cigarettes. There is just as much

nicotine in one juul pod as there is in a whole pack of

cigarettes. That means that both, smoking and vaping, are

equally addictive. Since they are both very bad for your health,

it is bad that they are both so addictive. Most people that vape

have tried to quit at least once, and they always fail because

they are so addicted to their vapes, that they know they need

it. Then they always start vaping again just as much as they

used to. This is a problem with e-cigarettes because they are

extremely dangerous, and since they are so addictive people are

constantly putting the bad chemicals into their bodies.

Traditional cigarettes had the same problem. They are so

addictive that when people would try to quit most would fail.
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Therefore, smokers are constantly putting bad chemicals,

including tobacco, into their bodies. Due to the fact that

smoking and vaping are both very addictive and dangerous, there

is not a safer option.

Another reason that e-cigarettes are very dangerous is that

they contain a lot of chemicals that are very bad for you. There

are many negative effects of using e-cigarettes. They are very

harmful to your body, and can give you serious illnesses. Many

people have gotten sick with a lung illness, that is linked to

vaping. In an article by The New York Times, “What You Need To

Know About Vaping-Related Lung Illness,” it insists, “Hundreds

of people across the country have been sickened by a severe lung

illness linked to vaping, and a handful have died, according to

public health officials. Many were otherwise healthy young

people, in their teens or early 20s. Investigators from numerous

states are working with the federal Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration in an urgent

effort to figure out why.” This article proves that many people

are getting sick and dying because of vaping. People that use e-

cigarettes are damaging their bodies, and they need to learn how

dangerous it is for them so that they can stop, before it is too

late.

A lot of people believe that vaping is safer than smoking

because vaping does not do as much damage to your lungs. This is

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actually not true. Vaping damages your lungs, just like how

traditional cigarettes do. As mentioned in the paragraph above,

a lot of people are getting sick with a lung illness due to

vaping. That proves that using e-cigarettes does damage your

lungs just like normal cigarettes. In an article by Politifact

called, “Is Vaping Safer Than Smoking,” it says, “The Centers

for Disease Control and Prevention identified nearly 1,300 lung

injury cases associated with the use of e-cigarettes, including

26 deaths in 21 states, and the agency recommends people

consider refraining from e-cigarettes.” This article proves that

e-cigarettes damage your lungs just as much as traditional

cigarettes. However, some studies have shown that certain e-

cigarettes are more dangerous for your lungs than others. In an

article by WedMD called, “Vaping and Lung Cancer: What You

Should Know,” it explains, “Many chemicals that cause cancer are

in this vapor. That includes formaldehyde, heavy metals, and

particles that can get stuck in the deepest parts of your lungs.

It's hard to know how much of these chemicals you breathe in

when you vape. The levels are usually lower in e-cigarettes than

regular cigarettes. But some studies show that high-voltage e-

cigarettes have more formaldehyde and other toxins than standard

e-cigarettes.” This section from the text proves that some e-

cigarettes damage your lungs more than normal cigarettes, and

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that some do not. However, all vapes damage your lungs, just

like any cigarette would.

On the other hand, a lot of people think that vaping is

much safer than smoking cigarettes. The main reasons people

think that vaping is a better option is because they think that

since there is no tobacco that it is not dangerous, they think

that they cannot die from it, they think they cannot get lung

cancer or damage their lungs, and they thought it would help

them quit smoking. Most of the people that use e-cigarettes

believe that it is a safer choice than using traditional

cigarettes. That is usually a person’s reasoning for why they

use an e-cigarette. A lot of the time when I hear someone ask

someone why they vape, their answer is something like, “it feels

good and at least I am not smoking a cigarette that is way

worse.” Studies are starting to prove that there is not a big

difference between using e-cigarettes and using traditional

cigarettes. Researchers are starting to believe that they are

both equally bad for you, and both have major health risks at

stake.

The first reason that most people think that vaping is

better for you than smoking cigarettes is because since there is

no tobacco in it, it must be safer. This is something usually a

person with little knowledge about vapes will say. The reason

vapes are dangerous is because of all the chemicals that they

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contain. There are a lot of chemicals in vapes and juuls that

can damage your lungs, and potentially kill you. In an article

by Healthy Living called, “Is Vaping Safer Than Smoking,” it

says, “In addition to nicotine, e-cigarette vapor includes

potentially harmful substances such as diacetyl (a chemical

linked to a serious lung disease), cancer-causing chemicals,

volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and heavy metals such as

nickel, tin, and lead. Users breathe in these toxic

contaminants, and non-users nearby risk secondhand exposure.”

This quote from the article proves that there are many dangerous

chemicals inside of e-cigarettes that can cause illnesses, or

cancer. It is good that there is no tobacco in the e-cigarettes,

however all the dangerous chemicals they put into them, make

them just as bad for you as normal cigarettes that contain

tobacco.

Another thing that I have heard a lot of people that vape

say is, “Since they are different than cigarettes and do not

have tobacco in them they cannot kill you.” Everytime I hear

someone say this I just shake my head. As I mentioned earlier,

people are in hospitals and dying due to vapes. In a quote used

earlier from an article by Politifact called, “Is Vaping Safer

Than Smoking,” it proves, “...including 26 deaths in 21 states,

and the agency recommends people consider refraining from e-

cigarettes.” This number continues to rise. Therefore, the

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people that think vaping cannot kill you need to realize that

people are dying, and they need to learn to quit.

Most people that think vaping is better for you than

smoking cigarettes also believe that e-cigarettes cannot damage

your lungs or give you lung cancer. I also proved that this is

not true in an earlier paragraph. In the same quote I used

earlier, it says, “The Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention identified nearly 1,300 lung injury cases associated

with the use of e-cigarettes.” This quote proves that e-

cigarettes can damage your lungs. People are getting lung

related illnesses due to the fact that they vape. People are

also dying from these illnesses. Therefore, if people believed

that vaping cannot damage your lungs, hopefully they change

their thinking and learn that every time you use an e-cigarette,

you are hurting your lungs more and more.

Another reason people think that e-cigarettes are a good

thing is because most people think that vaping is a way to get

smokers to quit smoking. People thought that e-cigarettes were

not as bad for you, so they thought it would be better to be

addicted to vaping than to be addicted to smoking traditional

cigarettes. In an article by Vox called, “Vaping May be More

Dangerous Than We Thought,” it says, “When e-cigarettes first

appeared on store shelves a few years back, they were marketed

as a sleek, discreet technology that could help adult smokers

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kick a potentially deadly habit. Flash-forward to 2018, the year

the Juul vape device took over three-quarters of the US e-

cigarette market. Instead of catering to adult smokers, the e-

cigarette industry appeared to overwhelmingly target nonsmoking

youth.” This quote from the article proves that e-cigarettes

used to be advertised as a way for smokers to quit. They were

also advertised as being a safer option than smoking traditional

cigarettes. In an article by National Center for Health Research

called, “Is Vaping Safer Than Smoking Cigarettes,” it says,

“Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are being marketed as

the “safe” new alternative to conventional cigarettes. By

October 2019, reports of 18 deaths and more than 1,000 vaping-

related lung illnesses have made it clear that vaping can be

even more dangerous than smoking.” This quote from the article

it proves that e-cigarettes used to be advertised as a safer

option, however due to all the lung illnesses, researchers are

thinking that vaping is more dangerous than they thought. A lot

of researchers that thought vaping was not as bad for you, are

starting to think that vaping is just as bad for you as smoking

cigarettes.

Many people really believe that it is true that vaping will

help smokers quit smoking. However, I do not know where these

people get their information to believe this. It has not been

proven as an effective method for smokers to quit. In an article

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by Healthy Living called, “Is Vaping Better Than Smoking,” it

says, “People trying to quit smoking or using tobacco products

should try proven tobacco cessation therapies before considering

using e-cigarettes, which have not been proven effective.” This

quote proves that using e-cigarettes as a way to help yourself

or someone else quit smoking, has not been proven effective.

Therefore, using e-cigarettes to help quit smoking is not a

reason to think that vaping is better for you than smoking.

In conclusion, this is a very current problem that lots of

researchers are investigating. They are currently looking into

how these people have been dying, and all the illnesses that

these people have and trying to decide if they are linked to

vaping. Due to the fact that stores used to advertise the e-

cigarettes as a good alternative to smoking cigarettes, and now

they do not advertise them like that anymore, should prove that

something happened. People started getting sick and dying, and

now people are doing a lot of research on it. From the use of

all the sources, and all my research, it is clear that vaping is

just as dangerous as smoking because they are just as addictive,

they have a lot of very bad chemicals in them, and they put you

at risk for serious lung illnesses and possibly lung cancer.

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Works Cited:

Association, American Heart. “Is Vaping Better Than Smoking?”

www.heart.org/en/healthy-living/healthy-lifestyle/quit-

smoking-tobacco/is-vaping-safer-than-smoking.

Belluz, Julia. “Vaping May Be More Dangerous than We Realized.”

Vox, Vox, 10 July

2019, www.vox.com/science-and-

health/2019/3/28/18277658/vaping-health-effects-vs-smoking.

Blaha, Michael. “5 Vaping Facts You Need to Know.” Johns Hopkins

Medicine, 2019,
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www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/wellness-and-prevention/5-

truths-you-need-to-know-about-vaping.

Gottschalk, Laura. “Is Vaping Safer than Smoking Cigarettes?”

National Center for

Health Research, 4 Oct. 2019,

www.center4research.org/vaping-safer-smoking-cigarettes-2/.

Grady, Denise, and Matt Richtel. “What You Need to Know About

Vaping-Related Lung

Illness.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 7 Sept.

2019, www.nytimes.com/2019/09/07/health/vaping-lung-

illness.html.

Kruzel, John. “The Facts on Vaping: Is It Safe?” PolitiFact, 21

Oct. 2019,

www.politifact.com/truth-o-

meter/article/2019/oct/21/vaping-safer-smoking/.

Lung Association, American. “E-Cigarettes and Lung Health.”

American Lung

Association, www.lung.org/stop-smoking/smoking-facts/e-

cigarettes-and-lung-health.html.
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Tashkin, Donald. “How Beneficial Is Vaping Cannabis to

Respiratory Health Compared

to Smoking?” Sinclair College Off-Campus Authentication

Form, onlinelibrary-wiley-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/doi/full/10.1111/add.13075

Wheeler, Regina Boyle. “Is Vaping Bad For You? Health Risks &

Safety Compared to

Smoking.” WebMD, WebMD, 24 July 2016,

www.webmd.com/smoking-cessation/features/vape-debate-

electronic-cigarettes#