I Guess I’ll Start Smoking

I used to be what you would call a chain smoker. I genuinely enjoyed the act of smoking. I didn’t (and still don’t) feel “normal” unless I have some form of nicotine in my system. As I continued smoking my breathing became increasingly strained. It had gotten to the point where I had to inhale epinephrine at least once a day just to feel like I could breathe. After a few months of this I came to the conclusion that not being able to breathe blows, and I purchased an electronic cigarette for myself. I absolutely loved it. It tasted fantastic and gave me the nicotine hit I needed whenever I needed it. Within a month I was able to completely switch from cigarettes to my new electronic cigarette. I was able to breathe properly again and things were fantastic.

When I moved to Texas from Pennsylvania last August, my e-cig broke in the flight. Unable to go long without nicotine, I picked up a pack of cigarettes after landing and put off buying a new e-cigarette until last December. In the months of going back to cigarettes my breathing got even worse than it was before my switch. I had to inhale epinephrine at least twice a day. After getting my current e-cigarette, I quit smoking again. I haven’t needed to use my medicine in two months and feel like I can breathe better than ever. Unfortunately, with the way the news media is portraying electronic cigarettes, I might have to switch back to smoking, which will almost certainly kill me along with millions of others.

One of the most common arguments that the news media and those opposed to electronic cigarettes/vaping use is that the companies that make the e-juice target their flavours at children. I will tell you that there is a vape shop near my apartment that I go to called Imperial Vapor Company. They happen to carry flavours like Earl Grey Tea, Fruity Pebbles, and Reeses’ Cups. I am a grown man and I still enjoy candies and sugary cereals. Your taste for these things doesn’t go away when you turn 18. It’s honestly a genius business move to try to replicate the flavours of popular sweets/drinks/what-have-you because people are going to buy them. If you like how Fruity Pebbles tastes and you vape, why would you not get an e-juice that tastes just like Fruity Pebbles? You would be able to taste it whenever you wanted and not have to worry about those pesky calories getting in the way. This is something I’m going to start attempting to do in my quest to lose weight. I could honestly go on and on about why e-juice companies are not targeting children, but I think that this article from Daily Drip covers a lot of bases, and I don’t want to turn my entire column into this one rant.

Last month Senator Leno in California attempted to introduce a statewide bill to ban the usage of electronic cigarettes. He has also claimed this about e-cigarettes: “It’s still tobacco. It’s still nicotine. There’s still tar. When you heat these concoctions formaldehyde is emitted, which is a known carcinogen.” I was shocked by this accusation so I took a look at the ingredients of every bottle of e-juice I owned. Every bottle I have reads “Propylene Glycol, Vegetable Glycerin, Flavouring, Water, and Nicotine.” I thought this was strange, the only ingredient he said was in e-juice that was actually in it was nicotine. I decided to take a closer look at what everything entailed.

There’s no tar in the propylene glycol or vegetable glycerin, the flavouring is just the standard artificial stuff you find in sweets. Nicotine doesn’t contain tar on its own, and water has no tar in it. Where was Leno getting this information? Leno apparently also doesn’t know that tobacco is a plant that it is not put in e-juice and cannot be smoked out of an electronic cigarette. This false information is being spread by somebody the public is supposed to trust, and that is just depressing.

All of this constant bitching about electronic cigarettes is really disconcerting. The icing on top of the cake is the constant and obvious lying by people the public is supposed to trust (i.e news media and politicians). I want to urge everybody reading this to educate anybody you can about electronic cigarettes. If you have relatives who smoke, show them what an electronic cigarette can do. We can’t let these bastards take away something that has the potential to save millions of lives.

I want to leave you with this thought. If the mainstream media and politicians can be so wrong about things you understand, should we honestly trust them to tell us about what we don’t?

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About the Author Caleb Bjørnsen Bjørnsen is freelance writer who is far too lazy to actually write. The author of a few unpublished short stories and a halfway finished fantasy novel, Bjørnsen is easily sidetracked when writing. If you're a fan of Bjørnsen's writing you can find more at his blog, Sen of Bjorn. You can also find him on Ello, @SenofBjorn.