At first glance, it can be hard to discern the difference between an electronic cigarette and a traditional one. Both supply the user with nicotine and both emit smoke.

But in reality, electronic cigarettes, commonly know as e-cigarettes, aren’t like traditional cigarettes at all.

The smoke that leaves the lungs is actually vapor, and rather than lighting up, users simply insert batteries and take a drag.

In the last couple of years, the use of e-cigarettes has increased among young people.

The increase can also be attributed to users preferring the new trend of emitting vapor instead of smoke and e-cigarettes’ cost-effectiveness.  Although e-cigarettes offer an alternative to traditional cigarettes, to many, it’s still unclear whether they’re actually a healthier option, especially to young users.

E-cigarettes have battery-operated systems and turn nicotine, a highly addictive substance, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user, Jenny Haliski, a press officer in the Food and Drug Administration Office of Media Affairs, said in an email. 

But Edam Alvarado, a sophomore painting and physics major who uses e-cigarettes, claims that they are a far better option than traditional cigarettes. Alvarado has only been using e-cigarettes for a short time, but said he is a proponent of the device.

He said he started using e-cigarettes after his roommate introduced it to him. Alvarado was previously a traditional cigarette smoker, but quickly made the switch.

Alvarado said he believes young people enjoy e-cigarettes because there are many flavors of liquid refills.

“It’s like having your own personal hookah,” Alvarado said. “You can change flavors and there’s also a range where the liquid comes in highs, mediums or lows.”

Students in grades six through 12 are using e-cigarettes more than ever, according to a study conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released Sept. 6. The study, known as the National Youth Tobacco Survey, was conducted from 2011-2012 and found that e-cigarette use among sixth- to 12th-graders increased from 3.3. percent to 6.8 percent.

While 76.3 percent of middle and high school e-cigarette users reported to also smoking conventional cigarettes, the CDC survey estimated that 160,000 students who said they had tried e-cigarettes had never smoked a traditional cigarette before.

New York state Governor Andrew Cuomo has already realized the appeal of e-cigarettes for young people and has taken action. Last September, Cuomo signed into law a bill that prohibits the sale of e-cigarettes to minors, which went into effect Jan. 1, 2013.

According to a press release from the governor’s office, “E-cigarettes could serve as a pathway to nicotine addiction for children, leading them to smoke cigarettes and use other tobacco products.”

The press release added that although unconfirmed, “e-cigarettes may contain ingredients that are known to be toxic to humans or that may otherwise be unsafe.”

Like most new technology, however, government regulation has yet to catch up. Haliski, the FDA press officer, said the administration is currently unable to regulate e-cigarettes under the Tobacco Control Act of 2009. The act ruled that e-cigarettes are technically tobacco products but aren’t considered drugs or devices, both of which can be regulated by the government.

“The FDA intends to propose a regulation that would extend the agency’s ‘tobacco product’ authorities — which currently only apply to cigarettes, cigarette tobacco, roll-your-own tobacco and smokeless tobacco — to other categories of tobacco products,” Haliski said.

In the meantime, however, young people nationwide are using e-cigarettes that haven’t been regulated by the FDA, without knowing whether e-cigarettes are actually harmful, she said.

Health effects aside, Alvarado, the student who uses e-cigarettes, said a benefit of choosing e-cigs was that it emits vapor instead of smoke.

“I found out that e-cigarettes are way better just because it’s cleaner, less smell and then you can smoke it inside if you wanted to,” Alvarado said.

The ability to smoke indoors is one of the major draws of e-cigarettes, since smoking traditional cigarettes indoors has been banned from most establishments in New York state since 2003, according to the Clean Indoor Air Act.

This factor may play a role in e-cigarettes’ popularity, said Dessa Bergen-Cico, an assistant professor in the department of public health.

“My observation is that e-cigarettes are appealing to people who use tobacco because they can ‘smoke’ indoors and around non-smokers without affecting them with secondhand smoke,” she said.

Bergen-Cico also said smoking e-cigarettes seems to be less stigmatized than smoking traditional cigarettes.

Zack Glascock, an employee at Exscape Smoke Shop on Marshall Street, said that he has noticed the e-cigarette trend growing since the store started carrying them during summer 2013.

Glascock, a senior information management and technology major, said he thinks most people who come into the shop to buy e-cigarettes are smokers who have made the switch, but that some are new smokers who “are just picking up the vaporizers.”

“I would say that ‘vaping’ and e-cigs altogether are really becoming a new trend with smokers,” he said. “It’s becoming more trendy because it’s a healthier way to smoke and it eliminates a lot of the bad things.”

For Alvarado, they’re also a cheaper option than traditional cigarettes, he said.

Glascock estimated that Exscape sells about one pack of per day.

Exscape’s e-cigarettes are sold in a pack of two for $60 and refills cost $8 each.

“In the long-term, they’re less expensive because you just buy the little liquid stuff,” Alvarado said.

Though they may be more cost effective, Alvarado did note the differences between smoking traditional cigarettes and e-cigarettes. He said that e-cigarettes lack the instant buzz or high that smokers get from traditional cigarettes, which for him was a downside. He said he used to enjoy the high he got after taking a drag.

Said Alvarado: “But I found it beneficial for me to leave that behind and use e-cigarettes.”

Published on September 18, 2013 at 1:21 am

Contact Avery: avhartma@syr.edu | @averyhartmans