Electronic Cigarettes: A Comparative Analysis

Rüther et al.’s October 2015 article investigated the attitudes about electronic cigarettes (e-cigarette) users in Germany using the Integrated Model for Change (I-Change Model). Up until now, with the exclusion of Rüther et al., little has been known about the motivational factors regarding e-cigarette use among young adults in Germany. Rüther et al. studied why smokers use e-cigarettes over conventional tobacco cigarettes, why smokers smoke e-cigarettes as well as conventional cigarettes, and the degree to which e-cigarettes are used in tobacco cessation. Overall, the researchers’ found that strictly e-cigarette users were more likely to be male, less likely to exhibit nicotine addiction, more likely to want to quit smoking, had better …show more content…
Although research in this area is still in its infancy, this doesn’t negate the fact that previous investigations have found that use of e-cigarettes doesn’t help users to quite.2 In fact, users of e-cigarettes are more likely to fall into using conventional tobacco cigarettes as a means of getting their desired level of nicotine quicker unlike with use of e-cigarettes in which the process is much slower.2 In this context, e-cigarettes are a gateway drug to increased nicotine addiction and use of more formal methods of tobacco use (i.e. smoking tobacco cigarettes).2 The descriptive and cross-sectional nature of the study prohibited the evaluation of time trends of current e-cigarette users. Longitudinal studies have found that those who start out as e-cigarette users end up being dual users of e-cigarettes and tobacco cigarettes or sole tobacco cigarette users.2 To point to their finding of lower nicotine dependence in e-cigarette users, it can be said that when taking time into account, those having been sampled could have just begun their nicotine dependence journey, thus the illusion of lower nicotine …show more content…
The health risks associated with e-cigarettes, although again in its infancy, point to adverse health outcomes with their continued use. Studies have found e-cigarette use to be associated with such illnesses as low infant birth weight, mouth cancer, lower fertility, and various respiratory diseases. As mentioned in Rüther et al.’s article there are toxicants (i.e. carcinogens) that are in e-cigarette components. Just because there is a lower amount doesn’t mean when compared to conventional tobacco cigarettes doesn’t make it any less lethal to the user. Just as is the case with the reported lower [CO]. Also, self-reported health in this instance cannot be equated with actual health of e-cigarette users despite high correlations between the two in past studies. The lag time between repeated use of e-cigarettes and the presentation of adverse outcomes makes it so. Therefore, while they feel good now, they won’t