One should keep in mind, that the most advertised aspect of the e-cigarettes was the fact that it is closest to being not harmful, or it can contain the least amount of harmful substances. E-cigarettes have been used mostly by the population of smokers who wish to quit and need an intermediary step. Moreover, the audiences that are a target for the producers of e-cigarettes are the tobacco smokers who are severely addicted. A study conducted over a period of one year, testing 958 hospitalized patients who consume tobacco cigarettes, through a survey, test the smoker’ s expectancies for conventional cigarettes and the electronic cigarettes. In accordance to several factors including the health risks, satisfying the craving for nicotine, the flavor and the relieve effect on anxiety, the patients marked the electronic cigarettes significantly weaker compared to conventional cigarettes( Hendricks et al. 2014). Figure 1 indicates the scores in a summary table below, which have been given by the participants who have filled the survey, regarding to the questions they have been asked. In all the areas, it is clear that the expectancies for e-cigarettes have been marked as weaker.
Figure 1: Comparisons of e-cigarettes-specific and tobacco-specific brief smoking consequences questionnaire – Adult( BSCQ-A) scale scores( Hendricks et al. 2014:108)
On the subject of institutions that offer help for smokers who are interested to quit, known as Stop Smoking Services, and in the UK, there has been such rehabilitation centers since 1999, which has set standards for rehab centers in other countries. There has been an increase in the demand for electronic cigarettes as a tool to facilitate the patients to quit smoking. However, the e-cigarettes have not been proven medically to be used across the rehabilitation centers. A group of researchers designed a survey which had been sent to several Stop Smoking Services across the UK, directing the questionnaires to the managers and the practitioners. According to the results attained, the e-cigarettes are considered a helpful tool for a smoker to quite as it contains doses of nicotine, in lesser amounts, which enter the blood stream similarly to the tobacco cigarettes, but less harmful. Results have proven that a large number of the practitioners are currently using the electronic cigarettes as a tool to quit their addiction, however, it has not been licensed as a medicine, which is the reason it has raised concerns( Beard et al. 2014). There is no doubt that the effect of the electronic cigarettes on the human health is significantly lower, however, there is an area of uncertainty on the other harmful chemical ingredients.
822 ZEMCH 2015 | International Conference | Bari- Lecce, Italy