What are Electronic Cigarettes and What's Keeping Them from Overtaking Regular Cigarettes.

 The popularity of electronic cigarettes has been at an all-time high and are seen as a product that can overtake regular cigarettes. But before I dive deep into how electronic cigarettes have gotten to this point, I will give a little background about them. Electronic cigarettes have been in market for a little 10 years and have slowly been making noise to consumers. The article, "Patterns of electronic cigaretteuse and user beliefs about their safety and benefits: An Internet Survey” by Maciej Goniewicz, Elena Lingas and Peter Hajek from the medical journal Drug and Alcohol Review, they give a great explanation of how electronic cigarettes work. They say, “Electronic cigarettes(e-cigarettes) are battery-powered devices that deliver vaporised nicotine,usually in propylene glycol or glycerin. In addition to nicotine, the vaporalso provides a flavour and physical sensation similar to that of inhaled tobacco smoke while no tobacco, smoke or combustion are actually involved,” which is a great summary of what an electronic cigarette does. The article goes in-depth on the safety, who the users are and conclusions they make from their research. The main focus of e-cigs are to do what regular cigarettes do but without the toxic smoke. Underneath is a picture of a basic e-cig and the parts it has. This is from the article "EffiCiency and Safety of an eLectronic cigAreTte (ECLAT) as Tobacco Cigarettes Substitute: A Prospective 12-Month Randomized Control Design Study" by autho Pasquale Caponnetto,Davide Campagna,Fabio Cibella,Jaymin B. Morjaria,Massimo Caruso,Cristina Russo,Riccardo Polosa from the medical journal PLOS ONE. They conduct a study on electronic cigarettes and the effects they have on the smokers. 

  One important aspect that is keeping e-cigs from are the health factors not yet known. Due to electronic cigarettes very recent rise in usage, this keeps health professionals from knowing the long-term health effects. The adverse health effect of regular cigarettes are certainly known but electronic cigarettes are the complete opposite. From the article above, the authors say, "Although, these data are promising, they are not definitive and more research about long term safety of these products is till required," which again shows that more research needs to be done to fully see the effects of smoking e-cigs. The safety of electronic cigarettes go hand-in-hand with the acceptance of them as well. 

  The overall acceptance of e-cig use is still questioned even though it goes against what many companies say. Electronic cigarettes do not give off the harsh tobacco smoke that regular cigarettes but, instead they give off a almost clear, vapor into the air. The vapor released from the e-cig has now coined the term "vaping" or the phrase "to vape" which all mean smoking an electronic cigarette. In areas from homes to cars to restaurants and clubs, people asking if they can "vape" will be common. Most cigarette companies boast that e-cigs can be used anywhere and the hassle of having to leave the room or building can be completely avoided. The television ad below by the company blu, they show TV host Jenny McCarthy smoking an e-cig in a club with nobody saying anything to her. She is shown having a  great night out and talking to a man who couldn't care less of her smoking or vaping. 

 The ad is important because though, the company says that smoking e-cigs will give you your freedom back, not everyone agrees with this. In the aritcle, "Attitudes towards Electronic Cigarettes Regulation in Indoor Workplaces and Selected Public and Private Places: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study" by authors

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Jose M. Martínez-Sánchez,Montse Ballbè,Marcela Fu,Juan C. Martín-Sánchez,Mark Gottlieb,Esteve Saltó,Constantine I. Vardavas,Richard Daynard,Gregory N. Connolly and Esteve Fernández who they studied whether or whether not the people of Barcelona, Spain were okay with the usage of e-cigs in public places. Their results showed that one important factor was the age of the person in the survey. Those younger were okay with people smoking e-cigs in some public places than those who are older. The table below shows the data that was collected.   
 A lot of information was presented in this post but it shows exactly what electronic cigarettes are. They are a very large competitor to regular cigarettes and can, in time, be the more popular choice of the two. Even regular cigarette companies are seeing this and buying stock in electronic cigarette companies. The only things holding back e-cigs are the unknown health effects and their acceptance in being smoked in public places. Electronic cigarettes popularity has risen so dramatically in the last couple of years that regular cigarette companies are investing in them, but only time can tell when e-cigs adn vaping will replace regular cigarettes.