School ban on e-cigarettes

The news that some schools in the UK are considering imposing a ban on pupils using e-cigarettes

at school in case they encourage smoking among other pupils may mean that many pupils who already smoke will revert to having a crafty cigarette behind the bicycle shed during break time.

The success of e-cigarettes has captured the public imagination and as with any type of success, there is now a backlash against a solution to tobacco smoke, which many smokers have found is the only way they can control their nicotine use and even quit smoking altogether.

Tobacco products are especially toxic because tobacco produces harmful by-products such as carbon monoxide and cancer-causing chemicals called nitrosamines.

Nicotine is a naturally occurring substance and not only is it found in tobacco leaves, but also vegetables and fruit like aubergines, potatoes, peppers and tomatoes. A 1993 study by researchers at the University of Michigan found there is as much nicotine in 20 pounds of aubergines as there is in one cigarette.

Nicotine is a chemical called an alkaloid, and comprises oxygen, nitrogen, hydrogen and, of course, carbon.

Alkaloids are not designed to be palatable and some plants give off these poisons so that animals will not eat them.

However, in the UK some schools fear that allowing pupils to use e-cigarettes might act as a gateway to smoking among pupils who previously might not have considered it.

Nicotine is a powerful stimulant and smokers can quickly become addicted to it. Some smokers who may be genetically more predisposed to addiction may also find quitting smoking as traumatic as trying to go “cold turkey” when drug users quit recreational drugs. Nicotine in tobacco smoke is very quickly assimilated by the body via the lungs, from where it passes into the blood stream and is pumped to the brain and other organs. Smokers can experience the same high from nicotine as from drugs and nicotine also has a powerful effect on the nervous system, so kicking the habit can result in distressing symptoms like mood swings and cravings.

It is understandable that teachers and parents would want to protect children from the dangers of drugs and nicotine. For smokers who are already struggling to cut down on their nicotine habit, however, e-cigarettes not only cut out the risks of tobacco smoke when trying to quit, but also provide the comfort of handling a cigarette-type device, right down to the heat an e-cig generates and a glowing tip provided by an LED light bulb.

Young adults and children who take up smoking may be aware of the dangers of tobacco smoke, but these may seem far in the distant future and it is perhaps only when a young smoker witnesses a grandparent or parent ill as a result of smoking tobacco that the tragic truth hits home about the dangers of tobacco use.

Tobacco used long-term can cause lung cancer and increase risk of other cancers, including breast and prostate cancer, mouth, tongue, head and neck cancer, oesophageal cancer and eye or nose cancers.

Tobacco smoke can also cause premature ageing of the skin and many smokers exhibit the classic signs of smoking, with thinner lips, coarser skin, deep lines round the mouth and eyes, discoloured and even greying teeth, poor oral hygiene and stained fingers and nails. Some chronic smokers may even find their hair becomes discoloured, especially when it turns white or grey.

Chronic use of tobacco can also affect tastebuds and many smokers only realise how impaired their sense of taste has become through tobacco use once they finally quit smoking or switch to e-cigarettes.

Nicotine is also a powerful poison which can kill insects and influences the nervous system in living creatures, which in turn can cause a rapid heart rate. Smokers are known to have a higher risk for heart attacks and stroke and this is the result of the influence of nicotine on the heart and arteries.

Many smokers claim that the habit helps them concentrate and this may be underscored by science to a degree, as nicotine stimulates the brain and also can cause a faster heart rate, in turn pumping blood to the brain faster to improve brain function.

But it is the cool image of smoking which tempts many young adults to try their first cigarette, and some teachers have claimed that as e-cigarettes are as yet untested and unregulated, and future health effects are not known.

Although e-cigarettes are as yet unregulated, in the UK they are generally sold to those under 18 years’ old.

Electronic cigarettes are available in a range of flavours, from cherry to chocolate and this is perhaps another reason why teachers and parents may be nervous about open use of e-cigarettes when children or young adults are present.

However, the novelty of “vaping” rather than smoking among youngsters has yet to be evaluated. Many pupils are already smokers, already dabble in recreational drugs and regularly use that other powerful drug, alcohol.

E-cigarettes may be banned from the classroom and playground and as yet be unregulated, but for millions of smokers worldwide struggling to quit, they have provided the first realistic alternative to smoking tobacco, and as a result many have managed to quit altogether.