EDITORIAL:For Better or Worse: Updated School Policy for E-Cigs

UHCL plans to update its campus smoking policy to specifically include e-cigarettes. Currently UHCL’s smoking policy includes pipes, cigars and cigarettes of any kind. E-cigarettes have been raising confusion about the smoking policy since they project vapor rather than smoke.

E-cigarettes are battery-operated devices shaped like cigarettes. E-cigarettes offer an alternative way for users to receive nicotine. The major differences between an e-cigarette and normal cigarette are that e-cigarettes do not use tobacco and emit vapor instead of smoke.

E-cigarettes heat a liquid inside the device, which contains nicotine and other chemicals. This causes a vapor to form that can be inhaled by the user, and when exhaled, a vapor cloud forms much like cigarette smoke.

E-cigarettes come in various flavors or can also be odorless, depending on what the user prefers.

The current smoking policy at UHCL states that the campus itself is a smoke-free zone except for in officially designated areas. The policy applies to all faculty, staff, students and third-party workers and visitors. There is no smoking allowed inside the buildings of UHCL unless approved for a theatrical performance.

The designated smoking areas include: the Arbor Building North entrance closest to the microwave tower; the Bayou Building 1500 entrance; the covered patio area behind the Patio Café; the Central Plant entrance from Lot D; the Central Services Building all entrances excluding the main entrances at the front of the building; the Delta Building entrance from Lot J; and the Student Services Classroom Building (SSCB) gazebo located in the North Plaza area of SSCB.

E-cigarettes are advertised as a safer way for people to smoke, which is why smokers who want to quit smoking often use them to transition from a smoker to a non-smoker, or at least to cut back on traditional cigarettes. Many people also believe they are safe because e-cigarettes emit vapor instead of smoke.

However, e-cigarettes are not as safe as many believe. Although they do not contain tobacco, they do have other chemicals that are potentially dangerous to users as well as those who breathe the second-hand vapor.
Students and staff should keep in mind that even though e-cigarettes may seem less harmful than cigarettes, they could have possible health risks. E-cigarettes are still too new to determine if there are any health risks, so as a precaution they should be included in UHCL’s updated smoking policy.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have not declared e-cigarettes to be safe. The FDA found that three different electronic cigarette cartridges with labels stating they contained no nicotine did contain a different level of nicotine in each one.

There were also reports of some e-cigarettes containing diethylene glycol (the toxin found in antifreeze) and traces of metals (copper, nickel and tin). There are significant amounts of tin found in e-cigarettes as nanoparticles. These nanoparticles can be very toxic and are so small that they usually go deeper in the respiratory system from your lungs straight into your blood system, which then appears in various organs after travelling in your blood.

There have also been reports that e-cigarettes have exploded while people use them. A man in Florida had been vaping an e-cigarette to stop smoking when it blew up in his mouth. This not only started a fire in the room, but also caused serious injuries to the man, including burns on his face and tongue and knocking out some of his teeth.

E-cigarettes can still cause problems for people even though they are tobacco free. In addition to the chemicals released through the vapor, flavored cartridges sometimes cause eye irritations or affect allergies. As of right now, there is still not enough known about the effects of first or second-hand vapor from the chemicals contained in e-cigarettes. That is why some cities, such as Los Angeles and New York are trying to ban e-cigarettes as part of their citywide non-smoking policies.

Until more is known about the long-term effects of vaping, UHCL is wise to err on the side of caution. The UHCL smoking policy should include e-cigarettes. There is not enough evidence to say that e-cigarettes are indeed safe.

UHCL has a responsiblity to protect its students and employees from the potentially harmful effects of second-hand vapor. If students and staff are not cautious, e-cigarettes and their health risks could easily mimic the early days of smoking. Learning too late the affects of second-hand smoking should have taught us a lesson instead of creating another potentially dangerous problem.