"The Benefits and Dangers of Electronic Cigarettes: No-Tobacco Day Awareness"

2023-06-01 07:17:00

As every year since 1988, the World Health Organization (WHO) has set up a no-tobacco day around the world on May 31. This day aims to raise global awareness of the dangers of tobacco, which kills nearly eight million people worldwide each year, according to the WHO. In Reunion, nearly 16% of Reunionese over the age of 15 smoke daily according to the Regional Health Agency (ARS), which estimates that “Tobacco use remains the largest preventable epidemic to date.” Thus, active smoking affects one in six Reunion Islanders who, for 100,000 consumers, smoke ten to twenty cigarettes a day. However, the ARS recalls that “tobacco is a proven risk factor for seventeen cancers (lung, throat, mouth, lips, pancreas, kidneys, bladder, uterus, etc.), and various cardiovascular diseases (myocardial infarction, stroke, high blood pressure, etc.) , or chronic respiratory diseases (COPD)”.

“It is better to vape than to smoke”

It is for these reasons that Frédéric was forced to quit smoking ten years ago. Smoker since the age of sixteen, for years he smoked “a pack and a half a day”. Hit in the arteries, he had no choice but to say “stop”. But if he managed to quit smoking “overnight”, he replaced it with an object still little known at the time: the electronic cigarette. Unlike conventional cigarettes, the electronic version does not contain tobacco, does not burn, and does not create smoke. It allows you to inhale vapor obtained by heating a liquid composed mainly of propylene glycol, glycerol, flavorings and, very often, nicotine. If this cocktail can be scary at first glance, it remains far from the mixture of 400 substances found in cigarette smoke, 80 of which are considered carcinogenic. Although this alternative is not “not harmless” according to David Mété, head of the addiction service at the Reunion University Hospital, electronic cigarettes present risks “much less” and could turn out to be “an interesting tool” to reduce tobacco consumption. According to him, “we cannot prevent smokers from smoking overnight by banning tobacco” and believes that he “it’s better to vape than to smoke”. An opinion shared by François Braun, Minister of Health, who said he was open to the prescription in pharmacies of these vapers in a weaning process.

But the benefits of electronic cigarettes are also economical. Indeed, Frédéric was spending “nearly 300 euros of tobacco per month” before switching to electronic cigarettes. Since then, he estimates that he has made a monthly saving of more than 200 euros. “while preserving his health”. For her part, Béatrice switched to electronic cigarettes two years ago with “the goal of completely stopping vaping eventually”. Without health problems, it is above all the financial aspect “who tipped the balance” and motivated her to quit. A smoker since she was 16, she could finish, in one day, “a pack of thirty cigarettes at fifteen euros”. So she saves “exactly 410 euros per month” and spends only around twenty euros monthly on electronic cigarette refills.

The dangers of the puff

But if the electronic cigarette is considered “a weaning aid tool” by Doctor Mété and a large part of the medical profession, its disposable equivalent, the puff, is not in the odor of sanctity. It is a disposable electronic cigarette sold in tobacconists or gas stations at a more than affordable price of around 10 euros. However, the effects on the body of the puff and the electronic cigarette are very different. Where the electronic cigarette allows you to choose and regulate your nicotine level according to the consumer, the puff is made up of pre-filled refills, which can go up to a nicotine level of 20 milligrams per milliliter, “high enough to be highly addictive and a gateway to smoking”, recalled the National Academy of Medicine in a statement in February 2023. Brightly colored with various flavors ranging from cherry to glazed grapes to cotton candy, the intended audience for these products is among young people who want “discover the sensation of smoking but which above all creates addiction” according to David Mete. In this sense, the Minister of Health wishes “ban puffs” Who “do not allow you to quit smoking” he declared on RTL and LCI on May 28, during the program “Le Grand jury” on RTL and LCI.

Jean Bodere

> Express Voice

Beatrice

“I started smoking at 16, we were on a hike with my smoking boyfriend. And we got to the top of a really long hill and I was like, give me a hit. So from there, it was a puff, then a cigarette, then a pack a day. For two years now, I switched to the electronic cigarette and it feels really good not to smell the smoke, not to have yellowed teeth or black lips. But eventually, the goal is to quit vaping too.”

Abdul

“I still smoke cigarettes in the evening but in everyday life, I switched to electronic cigarettes. It’s mainly because it’s cheaper even if it’s always a good thing to do good at my body. I tried to quit several times but each time, I took the cigarette again so with the vapoteuse, I found a good compromise since it is cheaper and less dangerous”.

Daniel

“For this day, it was my family who told me to quit smoking at least today and switch to electronics. I haven’t quit in years but since it’s my girl who asks, I say yes, at least for a day. Usually, I smoke a little less than a pack a day so I don’t know if I will be able to replace the cigarette”.