California Declares Vaping a Public Health Risk
Everywhere you turn these days you’re seeing a story about e-cigarettes and vaping. Are they safe? Are they “safer” than traditional cigarettes? Â One thing’s for certain… Big Tobacco certainly sees them as the “next big thing”. And you know as well as a I do that means one thing… they’re profitable.
California health officials recently said that e-cigarettes represent a rising public-health risk that threaten to re-normalize smoking behavior and lure a new generation into nicotine addiction.  They went on to issue a public health advisory, urging the their residents to avoid or stop using e-cigs.
“As we have done with other important outbreaks or epidemics, we are taking this formal step of warning Californians about the health risks of e-cigarettes,” said Dr. Ron Chapman, director of the California Department of Public Health.  He went on to say these products emit “A toxic aerosol, not a harmless water vapor.”
Many e-cig proponents will tell you that they’re safer because users are merely inhailing water vapor and that e-cigs will help tobacco smokers quit. Not true.
“There’s a growing amount of research that confirms that e-cigarettes are not safe and pose serious health risks for users, (to) those exposed second hand to the e-cigarette aerosol — and even (to) those who are merely within reach of e-liquid,” Chapman says.
A recent Monitoring the Future survey, which tracks substance-abuse trends among more 40,000 U.S. minors, found the use of e-cigs among teens has now surpassed the use of traditional cigarettes.
Read the original article here:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/e-cig-stigma-california-declares-vaping-public-health-risk-n295766