E-cigarettes 'should not be marketed as smoking cessation aids'

[pnwmom]

96. Pure nicotine is a drug. And so is nicotine diluted with water to a lower concentration.

Last edited Sun Mar 30, 2014, 06:56 AM - Edit history (1)

And so is nicotine in tobacco leaves. In every case, in every form, nicotine is a drug. An addictive stimulant, as a matter of scientific fact.

How can you not understand that?

Just because you personally use certain names, doesn't mean that your use is universal. The fact is that the basic technology is the same, for e-cigs and e-pens and vape pens and hookah-pens -- all are devices that produce heated water vapor that usually contains nicotine and sometimes adds flavoring. (Though, as you point out, some of these devices could be used to dispense marijuana oil -- which is not the subject of what I'm talking about.)

Yes, caffeine is another stimulant, but that doesn't make nicotine NOT a stimulant. Nicotine is a powerful, addictive stimulant with risks beyond that of caffeine. Reports of accidental nicotine poisonings among children are "soaring." Liquid nicotine can also be absorbed through the skin, and accidental exposure through the skin has put people in the hospital.

From the New York Times:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/24/business/selling-a-poison-by-the-barrel-liquid-nicotine-for-e-cigarettes.html?_r=0

These “e-liquids,” the key ingredients in e-cigarettes, are powerful neurotoxins. Tiny amounts, whether ingested or absorbed through the skin, can cause vomiting and seizures and even be lethal. A teaspoon of even highly diluted e-liquid can kill a small child.

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Reports of accidental poisonings, notably among children, are soaring. Since 2011, there appears to have been one death in the United States, a suicide by an adult who injected nicotine. But less serious cases have led to a surge in calls to poison control centers. Nationwide, the number of cases linked to e-liquids jumped to 1,351 in 2013, a 300 percent increase from 2012, and the number is on pace to double this year, according to information from the National Poison Data System. Of the cases in 2013, 365 were referred to hospitals, triple the previous year’s number.

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The surge in poisonings reflects not only the growth of e-cigarettes but also a shift in technology. Initially, many e-cigarettes were disposable devices that looked like conventional cigarettes. Increasingly, however, they are larger, reusable gadgets that can be refilled with liquid, generally a combination of nicotine, flavorings and solvents. In Kentucky, where about 40 percent of cases involved adults, one woman was admitted to the hospital with cardiac problems after her e-cigarette broke in her bed, spilling the e-liquid, which was then absorbed through her skin.

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“You wouldn’t leave a bottle of Ajax out,” she said. Advocates of e-cigarettes sometimes draw comparisons between nicotine and caffeine, characterizing both as recreational stimulants that carry few risks. But that argument is not established by science, and many health advocates take issue with the comparison.

“There’s no risk to a barista no matter how much caffeine they spill on themselves,” said Dr. Neal L. Benowitz, a professor at the University of California, San Francisco, who specializes in nicotine research. “Nicotine is different.”

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What we know about the effects of using nicotine dispensing products during pregnancy (other than cigarettes, which carry additional risks) comes from animal studies and from studying nicotine replacement products such as gum and patches. The consensus is that these products are safer than smoking cigarettes during pregnancy, because they don't contain all the toxins of cigarettes; but that nicotine alone, in any form, poses serious risks to the developing fetus. It isn't a good idea for any woman who thinks pregnancy is in her future to risk becoming addicted to nicotine, whether by smoking cigarettes or using e-cigs or e-pens.

http://www.quit.org.au/about/frequently-asked-questions/faqs-pregnancy-and-quitting-smoking/faq-pregnancy-quitting-medications.html

Nicotine gum and patches cause increases in the mother's blood pressure and heart rate, and a smaller increase in foetal heart rate, but other nicotine replacement products produce a smaller effect than smoking. Nicotine (from cigarettes or by itself) changes hormone patterns, affecting the endocrine profile of the infant. It affects the structure and functioning of the oviduct (fallopian tube) in ways that may impair fertility and complicate the pregnancy. Nicotine impairs the transport of essential nutrients across the placenta. Nicotine can alter embryonic movements that are important in the early development of the organs. It may interfere with foetal brain and lung development, although the long-term effects are not clear.