E-cigarettes are the target of a new advertising campaign developed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, although some observers question the effect the educational campaign could have on the American public.
The new ad series is focused on educating tobacco consumers about the dangers of mixing regular cigarette smoking with vaping, or smoking electronic cigarettes. Roughly 75 percent of people who use electronic cigarettes also consume tobacco through traditional means as well, according to the CDC.
Building on the CDC's earlier Tips from Former Smokers campaign, the ads feature personal stories from former smokers encouraging viewers to quit the tobacco habit. One of these is Kristy, a 35-year-old who started smoking e-cigarettes as a means to quit the drug, but instead kept smoking utilizing both delivery methods. She suffered a collapsed lung and was diagnosed with an early form of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) before quitting the habit. Another spokesperson, Tiffany, saw her mother die of lung cancer when the younger woman was just 16 years old. When her own daughter turned 16, the mother quit tobacco so that she could spend additional time with her offspring.
"All the Tips ad participants are heroes. By courageously sharing their painful personal stories, they're inspiring millions of Americans to make the life-saving decision to quit smoking," said Tim McAfee, senior medical officer in the Office on Smoking and Health at the CDC. The ad campaign starts March 30 and will run 20 weeks.
E-cigarettes are loaded with a liquid containing nicotine, and that substance is then heated to the point where vapors of the drug come out of the liquid, to be inhaled by the user. There have been concerns about safety since e-cigarettes came on the scene, both for smokers because of the high levels of formaldehyde in the vapor and for the children of smokers, who are attracted to the candy-like flavors of liquid nocotine such as cotton candy and gummy bear and don't realize the liquid nicotine is concentrated and can be quite harmful if swallowed.
Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the United States, taking the lives of 480,000 Americans each year. About 30 people suffer from smoking-related illnesses for each fatality caused by tobacco.
Tobacco use also carries a significant financial cost for the nation — more than $300 billion each year. This price includes $170 billion in medical expenses, as well as $156 billion annually in reduced productivity costs. Although tobacco advertisements on television and radio have been banned since 1970, the cigarette industry spends $8.3 billion each year promoting its products in an effort to make them more appealing.
The Food and Drug Administration is considering instituting the first national regulations on e-cigarettes, which could be announced in June. These new rulings could include the establishment of a minimum age for purchasing the devices and a required governmental review of all e-cigarette products before sales will be permitted.
"If you only cut down the number of cigarettes you smoke by adding another tobacco product, like e-cigarettes, you still face serious health risks. Smokers must quit smoking completely to fully protect their health — even a few cigarettes a day are dangerous," the CDC stated.
Photo: Lindsay Fox | Flickr
