Do you vape?
If you don’t know the meaning of the word vape, then there is a pretty good chance that you don’t do it! However, it could be that you have family members who vape or maybe friends or co-workers. Don’t try to look up the word in Webster’s dictionary or dictionary.com; both sources will say “no dictionary results.” And you won’t find the word vaping either. But you can visit the Urban Dictionary on-line and here is the primary definition of vape:
“To inhale vapor from E-cigarettes. Used because “smoking” an E-cig doesn’t apply as there is no smoke only vapor.”
Likewise, the Urban Dictionary defines vaping as:
“The process by which one inhales vapor from a personal vaporizer, or e-cig.”
Given the increasing popularity of e-cigarettes and vaping, it would make sense that soon the dictionary editors around the world will decide that the word vape has stood the test of usage and should be added to our dictionaries.
So why all the talk about e-cigarettes and vaping?
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| Centerfold TIME Magazine- Photograph by Therese+Joel for TIME |
For the past month or so there have been a number of news reports about e-cigarettes. Go ahead and “google” either phrase: e-cigarettes or vaping. You might be amazed at the number of news stories covering this phenomenon.
In the September 30, 2013, issue of TIME Magazine there is a six page article by Eliza Gray “The Future of Smoking – Electronic cigarettes could save lives or hook a new generation on nicotine.”
This is an article about our society; it offers a fairly detailed history of the development of e-cigarettes and vaping, profiling the key inventers, patent holders, the delivery modes both reusable and disposable, the CDC’s outlook…and some startling statistics. For example: “electronic-cigarette sales have grown from $300 million last year to an estimated $1.8 billion in 2013.” Gray is quick to point out that electronic cigarette manufacturers are not allowed to advertise their products with “cessation claims.” But think about her observation:
Almost nothing, not even Heroin or cocaine, is more addictive than nicotine. While other drugs impair, nicotine enables. When you are sleepy, it wakes you; when you are anxious, it relaxes you; when you are hungry, it takes your hunger away. Heroin withdrawal causes unbearable flulike symptoms, but they eventually pass. People who’ve used both say it is harder to quit smoking. For quitting smokers, withdrawal is psychologically damaging; they feel anxious, depressed, irritable, bored and unable to focus. Perhaps that is why nicotine-replacement therapies, like the patch, the gum and the inhaler, effective in clinical trials, don’t seem to work well in the real world. Even though half of smokers will die a slow and painful death from smoking, the 69% of smokers who say they want to quit know the odds are against them.
Read more: Electronic Cigarettes: The Future of Smoking – TIME
The 2013 E-Cigarette Summit and an interesting announcement
This week the 2013 E-Cigarette Summit took place at the London’s Royal Society. The BBC reported that Robert West told the delegates that e-cigarettes could save “literally millions of lives.” West is a professor of health psychology at the University College London. But of course, there are questions of the regulatory environment and this part of the equation is just beginning to be examined.
WebMD this week published a Q & A with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding e-cigarettes. You might find this article very helpful in understanding the big picture regarding e-cigarettes.
Washington Post’s On Background series provides a useful video on e-cigarettes
If you are having trouble viewing the video, you can see it here.
Smoking and addiction
Over the past few years, we have often published posts that dealt with smoking. The conversation about smoking, vaping and addiction will continue. Cottonwood Tucson’s staff works with our clients by offering nicotine cessation groups educate the participants on the physical, emotional, social, and psychological implications of nicotine use. Participants are also helped to examine their own addictive process regarding their use of tobacco, including triggers to the impulse to use. Our medical doctors and therapists help participants also develop a plan to stop smoking.
E-cigarettes and vaping will continue to be in the news. Stay tuned…
