Smoking has impacted our world on many levels such as public health, our safety and intensifying poverty. So why won’t everyone just stop smoking already, right?
With so much damage, it has lead us to believe that the solution to many of the issue from individuals through to world issues is by simple ‘stop smoking’. It is of course easy for people to say who don’t smoke but there is an alternative to aid those who are quitting and it’s called vaping!
Now, that we have advancements like vaporizing and electronic cigarettes, what would our world look like without smoking?
Our goal at VapeFuse is to help 1 million people by 2018 to get rid of TAR from their lives by making the switch from smoking to vaporizing.
In this article we take a look at how smoking damages the world and how we can change it if everyone stopped smoking and started vaping instead. (And what a wonderful world it would be!)
How Vaping Can Change Public Health if People Stop Smoking.
The stats regarding the impact of smoking has on a person’s overall health are staggering.
- More than 1 billion people smoke
- Over 5 million people die each year tobacco-related deaths; 1 person dies every 6 seconds
- Secondhand smoke kills 600,000 people worldwide every year
- A surprising number of smokers die from tobacco-related strokes and heart attacks, not cancer
Noted author and Stanford professor Robert Proctor stated in his book the Golden Holocaust: Origins of the Cigarette Catastrophe and the Case for Abolition
| “‘Low-tar cigarettes?’, ‘Light cigarettes?’, ‘Better filters?’ Forget it. They don’t work. Today’s cigarettes are deadlier than those made 60 years ago, gram for gram.” |
His book is so controversial that the tobacco industries tried to stop its production!
Health Conditions Cause by Smoking
Among heart disease and strokes, there are many conditions that smoking can cause which most people still remain unaware of today.
Tobacco is a major factor in a large amount of cases regarding,
- blindness,
- baldness,
- bladder cancer,
- cataracts,
- ankle fractures,
- early onset menopause,
- ectopic pregnancy,
- spontaneous abortion,
- erectile dysfunction.
Secondhand smoke is a silent killer. Secondhand smoke from cigarettes can cause serious cardiovascular and respiratory diseases, including coronary heart disease and lung cancer.
600,000 people die early due to secondhand smoke exposure and 28% of those are children.
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If people switched from smoking to vaping it may lead to a healthier society.
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Currently, there are no damaging health facts against vaping, in fact quite the opposite actually. Important studies that prove vaping is without a doubt safer than smoking:
- E-cigarettes are 95% safer than smoking – Public Health England
- E-Cigarettes Admit Far Less Aldehydes Than Tobacco Cigarettes – Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos
- Vapor is Virtually as Safe as Air Itself – MatTek Corporation
- Nicotine Via Vaping is as Harmful to Health as Caffeine is – Royal Society for Public Health
- There is No Second-Hand Smoke With E-Cigarettes – UK’s Actions on Smoking & Health
- Vaporizers Improve Health of Former Smokers – Alberta School of Public Health
- E-Cigarettes Are Not Harmful to Your Arteries – Onassis Cardiac Surgery Center
- E-Cigarettes Do Not Affect Heart Health – Dr. Konstantinos Farsalinos
- Vaporizers Do Not Impact Lung Health – The Taylor & Francis Group
- Secondhand Tobacco Smoke is More Harmful Than First-hand E-cigarette Vapor Exposure – The Taylor & Francis Group
Read more> What Recent Studies Are Uncovering About Vaping v.s. Smoking.
How Vaping can Lead to Less Crime if People Stop Smoking?
The illicit tobacco trade occurs when smokers are looking to save money on cigarettes by avoiding taxes.
These cigarettes are often non-mainstream brands in minimal packaging. They are often associated with organized crimes and terrorists groups. And the money generated from the illegal tobacco trade allows these criminals more funding for other crime activity such as drug smuggling, sex trafficking, and gun running.
It is estimated that 1 in every 10 cigarettes and tobacco products consumed globally is illicit.
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If people stop smoking and switched to vaping it may decrease the illegal tobacco trade.
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People who vape but still seek a nicotine hit can switch to e-liquids which is a popular substitute or to other materials and herbs to reduce their need for tobacco.
How Vaping can Increase Your Safety if People Stop Smoking?
There is another health risk associated with smoking such as house fires.
About 300,000 or 10 percent of all fire deaths worldwide were caused by smoking and the estimated total cost of these fires was 27 billion USD.
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If people stop smoking and switched to vaping it may lead to less risk of fires. There are no statistics on vaping-related fires (and death toll).
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Vaporizers and e-cigarettes are like any other device that uses batteries such as your remote, child’s toy or even your mobile.
If you use them properly by following instructions, maintenance, charge them correctly, and not overwork them (use while unit is too hot), it will greatly decrease the chance of combustion and fire.
A lot of them have an auto shut off mechanisms which makes sure you don’t leave them on for too long. And if you drop them you don’t risk fire because heated elements are generally not exposed and not as flammable as open fire such as in cigarettes.
Can Vaping Improve Poverty if People Stop Smoking ?
Smoking impacts our economy simply through advertising and media. Tobacco companies have targeted lower income earners for many many years.
Author John Madeley stated in his 1999 novel “Big Business Poor People”,
| “Tobacco companies convince the poor to smoke more, and to spend money they might have used for food or health care on cigarettes instead.” |
Tobacco and Poverty
In December 2004 the World Health Organization conducted a study regarding tobacco, they found that Tobacco is undeniably linked to poverty. They reveal that the poorest households in some countries as much as 10%-15% of their spendings is on tobacco which leaves less to spend on food, education and health.
They also reveal that it,
| “ In addition to its direct health effects, tobacco leads to malnutrition, increased health care costs and premature death. “ |
And finally with money being spent on tobacco and health care, it means less is spent on education and therefore lowering their literacy rate.
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If people stop smoking and switched to vaping it means they can spend less on tobacco as well as the habit as a whole.
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There is currently no studies on vaping impacting poverty but, let’s take a look a few other aspects.
Vaping and e-cigarettes come in a variety of devices, ranging from low to very high prices, also, ads for these devices are still very uncommon as most countries are still deciding their final position on vaporizer and e-cigarettes in general.
These devices are reusable, so a person only needs to purchase the raw material, aka tobacco to vape it rather than a cigarette box. Vaping also allows you to get more out of your herbs through convection/conduction, so you won’t need to use or buy as much.
Finally, you can mix your tobacco with other herbs for therapeutic purposes, to either help wean yourself off tobacco or save money.
These facts can allow for some logical assumptions, such as vaping caters to people from all financial classes as the user decide how much money they want to spend on their vaping device, their material mix and how much they need.
How Can Vaping Save The Environment & Society?
Tobacco believe it or not plays a factor in our current world hunger crisis.
John Madeley in his book, Big Business, Poor People described in detail the impact tobacco production has on the environment
- The land that has been destroyed or degraded to grow tobacco has effects on nearby farms. As forests, for example, are cleared to make way for tobacco plantations, then the soil protection it provides is lost and is more likely to be washed away in heavy rains. This can lead to soil degradation and failing yields.
- A lot of wood is also needed to cure tobacco leaves.
- Tobacco uses up more water, and has more pesticides applied to it, further affecting water supplies. These water supplies are further depleted by the tobacco industry recommending the planting of quick growing, but water-thirsty eucalyptus trees.
- Child labor is often needed in tobacco farms.
This is not including the packing materials that go along with a pack of cigarettes. Nor does this cover smoking accessories such as plastic lighters which use fuel.
This small amounts which are used by billions adds up creating a substantial impact on the environment.
Vaping and the Environment
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If people stop smoking and switched to vaping it may lead to less land used for cultivating tobacco and reduced child labour.
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Currently there is no data on whether or not vaping has an impact on the environment and society. However, we know that e-cigarettes and vaporizers do not use wasteful products such as filters, fuel for ignition, or foil packing.
We would like to think that with a lowered demand for tobacco there would be less plantations and cutting down of trees meaning survival of our forests and less pollution impacting farmlands.
As far as data shows there are no children used for labour in the production of e-cigarettes or vaporizers.
The Smokeless World
A world where people stop smoking and a world without cigarettes would mostly surely be a world with less deaths, illnesses and diseases.
A world where people are living is not only healthier, but the environment itself is cleaner.
The air fresher, the soil richer, the surrounding plants fuller, and the nearby water is pure.
Food production could really flourish feeding some of the millions that go hunger each day.
A smoke-free world would really only negatively affect the tobacco companies and ultimately the entire industry.
