Electronic cigarettes may be more harmful and life threatening for those who choose to smoke them compared to an actual pack of cigarettes, said the wellness and health promotion coordinator at the Health Center.
“Many students don’t know how much nicotine are in these e-cigs, and students don’t know how harmful that can be,” Jennifer Gacutan-Galang said.
What many students also don’t know about the e-cig is that it is not FDA approved, she said.
Of the students Gacutan-Galang sees using tobacco products or who are trying to quit using tobacco products, half know about the e-cig product and a quarter have it or have tried it, she said.
An e-cig is composed of an atomizer, a battery and a mouthpiece. The e-cigarette is powered by a battery and emits vapor rather than chemical smoke, according to e-cigarette national Web site.
There are nicotine cartridges that are put into the atomizer, which is then inhaled, according to the e-cigarette Web site.
“What the e-cig companies don’t tell you is the amount of nicotine in each e-cig,” Gacutan-Galang said. “Even though the e-cig does not have the 4,000 plus chemicals, they contain nicotine, which is the chemical that makes cigarettes addictive.”
Gacutan-Galang said a student brought in an e-cig starter kit he had purchased from Valley Fair Mall and nowhere on the box or the pamphlet of the $120 product was the amount of nicotine printed.
Some students who come to sessions with Gacutan-Galang and want to quit smoking noticed a change in the number of cigarettes they smoked she said.
“They went from a pack to half-a-pack a day, but the problem with that is since it is not known how much nicotine is in each e-cig, they could potentially be smoking two packs worth of nicotine,” she said.
“They taste better than normal cigarettes, and you don’t smell like you have just had one,” said sophomore chemistry major Jade Lopez.
The reason these e-cigs have been referred to as the “cigarette you can smoke anywhere” is because there is no secondhand smoke from it, Gacutan-Galang said.”You’re not burning them, so there is no secondhand smoke and this is what people get offended by,” she said. “But they are still harming themselves.”
“It would be a little weird and throw me off seeing someone smoke in a building,” said freshman nursing major Karina Nettie.
Linda Steadman, a sophomore radio, television and film major, said she favors the benefits of the e-cig.
“It is pretty cool, since you can smoke inside buildings and not have to go outside,” she said.
Since the e-cig can range in price from $70 to $150, this is money students may not be willing to spend.
“The fact that they are so expensive does not make it appealing to me,” said Monica Gallyot, a senior social science major who has been smoking for 15 years.
Students who have tried the e-cig have told Gacutan-Galang they didn’t like it because after they would smoke the e-cig and would still crave an actual cigarette, she said.
“No college student can afford that price, but five dollars for a pack is easier to get, and even then can be a struggle sometimes,” said Steadman, a smoker for one year.
Lopez said the e-cigs are expensive at the moment, but if more brands started coming out with them, the price might lower.