We all owe a ‘thank you’ (and a donation) to the Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association, better known as CASAA. Thanks to the generosity of E-cigarette users of means, the CASAA has just completed the first large-scale scientific study of the constitution, potential dangers, and health benefits of vaping. There have been many smaller studies so far that, in my opinion, have gone a long way to prove that E-cig vapers are, in fact, participating in a low-to-no risk activity that replaces their former unhealthy smoking habits with something that won’t eventually land them in the cancer ward of a hospital, talking to people with the use of one of those nifty robot voice thingies. And while this means that the probability for our eventually becoming Darth Vader has significantly dropped, it does mean we’ll be around long enough to see the first, real-life light saber hit the marketplace as an affordable price.
To be specific about the nature of this study, it should be mentioned that actual, chemical experimentation was not a part of the study, which was lead by the esteemed Dr. Igor (love the name!) Burstyn of Drexel University. There has been more than enough of that through many, many sources, despite what the Evil Empire… I mean the FDA, would have you believe. The CASAA’s mission here was to evaluate the methodology and results of about 9,000 of these studies from around the globe. Then, these results were synthesized together in a number of different ways in order to highlight the findings of chemical analysis, stressing not only the confirmed presence of various manufacturers’ stated ingredients, but also the various contaminants that have been reported over the years. Lastly, these results were juxtaposed against typical exposure standards.
The results? Well, in the words of the researchers themselves, were “surprised that even the worst-case scenario risks are so low.” To sum everything up in a sentence: The risks of vaping E-cigarettes are the same as the risks of chewing nicotine gum, or wearing the patch, that is to say 99.9% lower than the risks of smoking tobacco cigarettes. And those are the “worst-case scenario risks.” The rest of the study presents results relating to the exposure levels, the presence of chemical contaminants, etc. All of these are well below levels that could be considered the bare minimum level for presenting potential health hazards, even based at the rate of puffs taken by a typical “heavy” smoker.
This is an important study for all of us vapers, because of it’s scope. It was definitely a decisive study, including almost all peer-reviewed scientific journal entries available anywhere at the time of the study’s commencement. This will be hard for the FDA to ignore and brush under the table like they have done with ALL of the smaller studies, no matter how pure the scientific method behind each study. The Galactic Empire can no longer afford to ignore the Rebels on Hoth, because they are on the way to destroying the Death Star (I’m loving this Star Wars analogy.) The next step here… Lobbying, which is a particularly detestable profession, but unfortunately necessary in today’s political climate. I’m praying that the CASAA is working on getting their people in to see Representatives and Senators to present the diffinitive results of this all-inclusive study, and to show them that vapers are growing in number because they want to be healthier, they want to exercise their freedom to ingest nicotine, while avoiding the pitfalls of tobacco smoking. Hopefully, we can get the point across, because in light of this research, the only counter-argument that the opposition has left to offer is that E-cigarette vaping looks like smoking, which looks “cool” to some minors, who might desire to start vaping to look “cooler,” then eventually give up the infinite diversity of flavors available in E-juice in favor of the two available flavors of tobacco cigarettes: Regular, and menthol. Pretty weak argument, if you ask me.
In conclusion, the FDA’s attempt to brush this study off would upset Chewbacca, and it’s not wise to upset a Wookie. Just sayin’…
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