After a glance around any building on campus, one might see throngs of students inhaling smoke from what looks like a small, black wand. It is the latest trend emerging among smokers called e-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes.
E-cigarettes look like regular cigarettes; the only difference is that they don't contain tobacco. Instead, there is a device inside that heats up liquid nicotine that turns into liquid vapor that smokers inhale and exhale.
"The great thing about the e-cigarette is that you can buy them without nicotine, so it is helping me get off regular cigarettes," said junior communications major Hunter King. "I read articles online that say they are not good for you, but for me it is better than the whole ritual of lighting a cigarette."
King said that being a smoker is so ingrained in his personality after being a five-year, pack-a-day smoker.
"I am choosing between the lesser of the two evils," King said. "I smoke less cigarettes and do not think about smoking as much."
The biggest benefit King has had from the switch is financially. King used to spend $35 a week on cigarettes and now spends $15 a month.
"The $40 for the cartridge was the most expensive part of it, and the $15 for the liquid lasts me about a month," he said.
The liquid used in an e-cigarette can be found in a myriad of flavors, ranging from gummy bears and cotton candy to the typical classic tobacco.
"Regular cigarettes are full of tar and other carcinogens that are horrible and cause things like throat cancer," said Danny Tockey, part owner of a local e-cigarette store. "The e-cigarette juices just contain vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol and nicotine, which are not harmful."
Tockey's business partner, Steve Butler, said that vegetable glycerin is found in nearly every food product we use in the United States.
"Basically it is the same thing as vegetable oil, natural and not harmful, the same thing with propylene glycol," he said.
Vegetable glycerin is extracted from palm and coconut oils and used as an additive in cosmetics and food and also as a sweetener. Propylene glycol is used by the chemical, food and pharmaceutical industries as antifreeze when a leakage might lead to contact with food, according to the Center for Disease Control.
The Food and Drug Administration has determined that it is "generally safe for use in food." However, the CDC states that even at low concentrations nicotine causes tremors and increases heart rate, blood pressure and respiratory rate.
Dr. Lowell Dale of the Mayo Clinic states that the FDA has questioned the safety of e-cigarettes. When he analyzed samples of two popular brands, he found traces of nicotine and toxic chemicals, including known cancer causing substances. Dale stated that until more is known, it is a safe play to say no to electronic cigarettes.
Tom Frieden, director of the CDC, reaffirmed Dale's statement that there is still more research to be done on e-cigarettes, especially their impact on long term health, but they appear to have fewer toxins than smoke found in traditional cigarettes.
Dr. Harvey Simon, Editor of Harvard Men's Health Watch, wrote that electronic cigarettes contain the toxic chemical diethylene glycol (DEG) and various nitrosamines, powerful carcinogens found in cigarettes. In 2006, the FDA had received a substantial number of reports about fatal DEG poisoning of consumers who ingested cough syrups that were manufactured with DEG-contaminated glycerin and can cite poisoning cases spanning back to 1937.
Tockey, like King, can see an improvement in his finances as a tangible by-product.
"I used to spend $240 a month on cigarettes, a carton a week," Tockey said. "Now, I spend $30 a week on vapor juice."
