With advertisements such as "Pure flavor, nothing but vapor"or "Rise from the ashes™", the overall mindset around e-cigarettes is that they provide an outlet for past cigarette users that is healthier, but also a loophole to cigarette bans within public spaces. As a freshman at the University of Michigan, I am always amazed to see students using e-cigarettes instead of traditional cigarettes as it is confusing to me why they use them at all when either way they are going to expose themselves to unhealthy carcinogens. I personally am educated on the health risks that are involved in the use of e-cigarettes, but is this the case for the majority of college students? Is it possible that there is a certain level of susceptibility to fads such as e-cigarettes within the college age cohort?
A web-based study conducted in New York on four different college campuses found that roughly 85.8% of college students agreed that e-cigarettes are healthier/better than traditional cigarettes. The study also found that, across the board, college students who partake in behaviors such as drinking, drug usage, or traditional cigarette usage are at a higher rate of susceptibility to become users of e-cigarettes. Although these data paint a picture that it is alright that there is a higher percentage of students converting their behavior over to the "healthy" alternative, this is simply not the truth. This statistically higher percentage of e-cigarette usage is manifested to the order of 5-20 times greater, a staggering figure that should not exist.
The data surrounding this issue is shocking not only because the incidence is so much higher within these groups, it is shocking in the fact that the majority of college students statistically fall within these high risk groups. This knowledge therefore implies that the average college student is at a very high risk of susceptibility to e-cigarette usage, and the health implications for this cohort as a result of this susceptibility are not yet able to be studied.
Questions for Reflection:
If college students are so susceptible to e-cigarette usage, how does the presence of a "vape shop" near to campus affect the number of students who use such products. Also, do these shops use the same tactics as e-cigarette advertisements by overplaying the "benefits" and completely downplaying the large of number of health risks present in order to coax students into buying into the "hoax" that is the e-cigarette industry?
Sources:
Risky behaviors, e-cigarette use and susceptibility of use among college students
http://www.blucigs.com/products/
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/ad_gallery/P150
A web-based study conducted in New York on four different college campuses found that roughly 85.8% of college students agreed that e-cigarettes are healthier/better than traditional cigarettes. The study also found that, across the board, college students who partake in behaviors such as drinking, drug usage, or traditional cigarette usage are at a higher rate of susceptibility to become users of e-cigarettes. Although these data paint a picture that it is alright that there is a higher percentage of students converting their behavior over to the "healthy" alternative, this is simply not the truth. This statistically higher percentage of e-cigarette usage is manifested to the order of 5-20 times greater, a staggering figure that should not exist.
The data surrounding this issue is shocking not only because the incidence is so much higher within these groups, it is shocking in the fact that the majority of college students statistically fall within these high risk groups. This knowledge therefore implies that the average college student is at a very high risk of susceptibility to e-cigarette usage, and the health implications for this cohort as a result of this susceptibility are not yet able to be studied.
Questions for Reflection:
If college students are so susceptible to e-cigarette usage, how does the presence of a "vape shop" near to campus affect the number of students who use such products. Also, do these shops use the same tactics as e-cigarette advertisements by overplaying the "benefits" and completely downplaying the large of number of health risks present in order to coax students into buying into the "hoax" that is the e-cigarette industry?
Sources:
Risky behaviors, e-cigarette use and susceptibility of use among college students
http://www.blucigs.com/products/
http://www.tobaccofreekids.org/ad_gallery/P150
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