I wrote a letter to the editor that got published in the Western Washington University school newspaper in response to one of their articles. However, my letter has yet to be posted online...even though it has been months, so I am putting it on here for the time being.
Thank you for publishing the article concerning E-cigarettes. I am serious when I say that I have never heard
someone complain about other people using them, so I am not sure how the concern over E-cigarettes
came to be. While I am glad to know that the school faculty and AS
Board of Directors care for our well-being, I believe they need to hear
out the student body
before making any rash decisions concerning the change of the smoking
policy to include E-cigarettes.
It is my opinion that more research needs to be done on E-Cigarettes before anyone can say that they are any more or less healthy than normal tobacco products.
I have a question for those considering changing the smoking policy to include E-cigarettes:
Do you want it changed because of concerns about secondhand vapor
negatively affecting the health of third parties, or are you trying to
look after the health of the individuals who choose to partake in
vaporizing?
If it is the first reason, I am sure the student body would like to see the research concluding that secondhand vapor has that effect on people.
If it is the latter, why do you feel the need to tell students what they
can or cannot do with their own bodies via regulation? If instead of
changing the policy you started an educational campaign teaching
students about E-cigarettes, it would allow them to
make informed decisions of their own without limiting their personal freedoms.
The Director of Environmental Health and Safety sent me information on why they were considering these policy changes and I wrote this in reply:
After
reading this link from the University of Kentucky, I still stick to my
arguments, especially the one dealing with a person being able to choose
what to do with his or her own body. I find it very inconclusive. It
seems that the university is more concerned
with using biased sources, emotional appeals, and scare tactics to try
to convince people not to use or support the use of E-cigarettes.
While it is true that they contain chemicals, even those that are
considered carcinogenic, I would want to see more evidence
that second vapor would actually negatively affect third parties.
It would also be worthwhile to mention that I was told the policy changes were in discussion because some students were vaporizing in the library and it caused the fire alarm to go off. Definitely not a knee-jerk reaction on the school's part. I will definitely be writing more about e-cigs in the future.
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I believe that e-cigs should be allowed and available to whoever wants them. But as a "healthy alternitive" or a cutting back method of smoking, they do not work.. Many of the "juices" that e-cigs burn to create the vapor contain just the same chemicals that are in cigarettes such as formaldehyde and countless others. Recent studies have also shown that more and more kids are becoming addicted to nicatine, directly from e-cigs, skipping out actual physical cigarette use completely.. something like 17% of people who use them to quit actually succeed, the rest get more heavily addicted to nicotine, and fall back on tobacco products when their e-cig runs out or breaks..
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