I am a smoker, I have been since I was about 14. I know smoking is harmful, causes cancer, lung disease, and other problems with the human body. It stinks, and is addictive. But the one thing that smoking has over vapor is long term studies, Smoking has been around for over a hundred years. I know what the adverse effects of smoking are, but I don't know much about vaping.
There has been research in the long term effects of smoking and because of that, anyone who smokes knows the risks involved with it. The fact that it is addictive makes it harder to quit but it's not so addictive that it is impossible, as I have quit a few times over the years but decided to start again.
The Vaping movement has begun, and it seems that everyone on the vaping band wagon thinks that it is healthier than smoking. When cigarettes became mainstream, they used to advertise it as a healthy activity that would increase lung capacity and give you more energy. There were no long term studies to prove otherwise.
That's where we are with vaping, the same sort of statements are being made without any evidence to dispute the claim. Haven't the scientist learned from their mistakes from the past? With these sorts of claims it is no wonder people are switching from cigarettes to vapor, and by saying that is "healthier" than smoking. Using the word "Healthy" in this way is harmful, because that's what people hear, and then you hear them say that vaping is healthy, it's not.
I just watched an experiment where they sucked in the equivalent of a months worth of smoking and vaping, into a glass cylinder filled with cotton balls. The cigarette cylinder was of course brown with tar and was a sticky mess, but the vapor cylinder was clear, the interesting thing I found was the scientist said that the cotton balls in the vapor cylinder were wet with vapor, and even though there was no color, they could still smear this clear substance on a white piece of paper. Then they claimed that because of this, the vapor was clearly more healthy than the cigarette. This test did not prove that in my opinion.
Smoking or vaping? For now I will stick with what has been proven and stay away from what has not. But really, I shouldn't be doing either, and just quit all together.
Scott Goerz
