Cigarette smoking did not become widespread in the United States until the late 19th century, but it instantly became a popular trend and a social stigma when Americans picked it up as a recreational activity.
Today, the knowledge of tobacco’s negative health effects is more prevalent than in the past, but people still widely enjoy this habit. Several companies have begun experimenting and have creating alternatives to smoking that appear to be healthier.
With new advanced technology, devices such as electronic cigarettes, electronic hookahs and electronic cigars have become popular among the population of smokers trying to quit the real deal.
Electronic cigarettes, better known as e-cigarettes, are battery powered devices that simulate the act of smoking tobacco. Although the e-cigarette was produced in 1963, the trend is only becoming popular today for the people trying to kick the cigarette-smoking habit. Devices like this use a heating element to vaporize a liquid solution that offers the feeling of smoking a cigarette without the use of tobacco.
While the electronic cigarettes still carry nicotine inside, the electronic hookahs do not-making them more popular among the younger generations. E-hookahs come in different flavors, offering a variety of tastes that make them very appealing.
“I think that e-cigarettes are very helpful for people who want to smoke but don’t want the negative health effects of smoking tobacco,” said Ramapo junior Matthew Rooney. “My girlfriend is asthmatic, so smoking the e-cigarettes benefits not only myself, but her, so she doesn’t have to deal with the effects of the smoke on my breath, which would make it harder for her to breathe. However, the people who smoke these e-cigarettes and e-cigars in places like class, the movie theater, or in restaurants are inconsiderate and look silly.”
While 50 million people in the world still continue to smoke cigarettes, a mere 7 million are choosing the alternative route. There is a lot of back and forth criticism about the use of electronic cigarettes and hookahs. Some people say that they don’t get the same feeling that they get when smoking an actual cigarette and that they can taste the lack of tobacco, while others say that the simulation of smoking is enough to satisfy their habit.
A plus side of these electronic smoking devices is that, in the end, they are much cheaper than purchasing weekly packs of cigarettes. Users can invest in an e-cigarette with a charger for the vaporizer for around $20 that could last months or years longer than a $7 pack of cigarettes would.
—
dcookson@ramapo.edu
