by Patrick Sills

Created on: December 03, 2010   Last Updated: December 10, 2010

It’s no secret that the pastime of smoking has fallen out of favor. Given the opportunity, anti-tobacco organizations are more than happy to tell us just what is contained in the smoke from those little sticks of paper and tobacco collectively known as cigarettes. Just to name a few, we're talking about arsenic, formaldehyde, and hydrogen cyanide. There are hundreds of other toxic goodies as well, and some of them are known to cause cancer in humans.

On the other hand, we have electronic cigarettes. In light of tobacco-smoking's bad publicity and the resultant onslaught of public bans, these battery-powered devices came onto the scene just a few short years ago. To date, electronic cigarettes have earned the prestigious honor of being the closest thing to real smoking in existence. The user inhales a vaporized mixture of water and propylene glycol. Levels of nicotine are optional. Although propylene glycol is a key ingredient found in the manufacture of the antifreeze we put into our vehicles' radiators, it is not a carcinogen. Nor for that matter is nicotine. It looks like smoking. It feels like smoking. But it is not smoking. Rather, it's "vaping."

Common sense should tell us that inhaling the same stuff found in antifreeze probably isn’t the healthiest of choices to make, but when compared to the toxins found in genuine tobacco smoke, the answer to whether tobacco is safer than electronic cigarettes would seem to be quite clear.

And of course, that answer is no.

However, in order to intelligently answer the question of whether or not tobacco is safer than electronic cigarettes, or vice-versa, careful thought must be exercised. First and foremost, one must consider the source. In the span of just a couple of decades, the anti-smoking movement has turned into a figurative Frankenstein’s monster whose agenda is quite clear. They will not be satisfied until all forms of this practice; including the “vaping” of artificial electronic devices, is completely eradicated.

Even if every single compound found in the manufacture of electronic cigarettes were to undergo the strictest of scrutiny and manage to be labeled as unquestionably safe for use, smoking foes would seek other ways to condemn their existence. Make no mistake: the goal here is to wipe out smoking; including any facsimile therein, from the face of the planet.

Then you have the big tobacco companies. The very idea of electronic cigarettes is a serious threat to their livelihood.

• 1
• 2
• Next Page >>