WEBVTT - E-Cigarettes and Vaping 0:00:04.240 --> 0:00:07.520 Get in touch with technology with tex Stuff from stuff 0:00:07.760 --> 0:00:16.280 dot Com. There everybody, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm 0:00:15.200 --> 0:00:19.079 and today we have some listener mail to get through. 0:00:19.360 --> 0:00:23.320 This comes to us from Josh via Facebook, who says, greetings, 0:00:23.400 --> 0:00:27.120 I've recently quit smoking cigarettes after twelve years, but after 0:00:27.160 --> 0:00:29.880 abstaining for six months, my savior has come under fire. 0:00:30.200 --> 0:00:33.839 I'm speaking about the sig vaporisers. Of course, please do 0:00:33.880 --> 0:00:37.240 an episode on it. First of all, Josh, well done 0:00:37.400 --> 0:00:41.680 for the congratulation for the under fire pun as well. Well, 0:00:41.720 --> 0:00:45.559 I was talking about quitting smoking also, I mean it's 0:00:45.760 --> 0:00:48.599 as we're gonna discuss, that is not an easy thing 0:00:48.640 --> 0:00:52.080 to do. And before we get into this episode, we 0:00:52.120 --> 0:00:53.800 have a couple of articles I want to I want 0:00:53.800 --> 0:00:56.760 to mention at the top because how Stuff Works has 0:00:56.760 --> 0:00:58.639 got some great stuff on here. If you really want 0:00:58.640 --> 0:01:01.600 to dig down deep and read these articles, they're they're 0:01:01.640 --> 0:01:04.600 really well done, so check them both out. One is 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:08.360 on how electronic cigarettes work by Susan Cassidy and another 0:01:08.600 --> 0:01:14.040 is how nicotine works by Maria Tremarchi and and Meager O'Connell. 0:01:14.560 --> 0:01:16.520 Both of those are going to be articles that will 0:01:16.560 --> 0:01:20.920 be referencing throughout this episode. And the reason for that 0:01:21.000 --> 0:01:24.160 is because we kind of need to talk about lots 0:01:24.160 --> 0:01:28.240 of different factors here, not just the technology involved. So first, 0:01:29.319 --> 0:01:34.399 electronic cigarettes siggs. Yes, they are electronic cigarettes or smokeless 0:01:34.400 --> 0:01:40.520 cigarettes or vapes which you vape while you are vaping. Yeah, vapes, 0:01:40.760 --> 0:01:45.880 vapes typ vaporizing. But although people will call call it vaping, 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:50.280 vapes tend to be the name of usually the either 0:01:50.360 --> 0:01:54.360 the liquid which that's also a thing, which is essentially 0:01:54.400 --> 0:01:57.840 your your liquid, uh, nicotine liquid, smoke stuff. It's not 0:01:57.880 --> 0:02:01.760 really electronic liquid, nor does it always have nicotine in it. 0:02:02.120 --> 0:02:04.240 But we'll get to that as well. But some people 0:02:04.280 --> 0:02:06.760 refer to the actual devices of vepes. It's kind of 0:02:06.760 --> 0:02:12.160 a weird. It's this whole culture thing. Uh. There are 0:02:12.200 --> 0:02:15.000 people on the House of Works staff who have used 0:02:15.040 --> 0:02:18.760 these electronic devices in various ways. So, um, I have 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:20.760 gotten to see ones that are shaped like a pipe, 0:02:21.160 --> 0:02:23.400 which I had never seen before. I had seen them 0:02:23.639 --> 0:02:26.480 that look kind of like electronic you know, cigarettes, like 0:02:26.560 --> 0:02:29.720 maybe even cigarettes in the long electric the long cigarette holder, 0:02:30.200 --> 0:02:33.000 so you can look like you are a caricature off 0:02:33.000 --> 0:02:35.440 the cover of the New Yorker, um, except that you 0:02:35.440 --> 0:02:37.120 have a little led light at the end instead of 0:02:37.160 --> 0:02:41.160 an actual ember. So you probably have seen these. They 0:02:41.240 --> 0:02:45.960 are these Usually they look like some form of cigarette 0:02:46.080 --> 0:02:49.200 or pen or something. Two people put in their mouths. 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:52.799 They inhale and they puff out a little bit of 0:02:52.840 --> 0:02:58.079 what looks to be smoke. Usually. But how recent is 0:02:58.120 --> 0:02:59.720 this idea? I mean it only came out like a 0:03:00.320 --> 0:03:05.399 like like a year or two ago, right, uh yeah, 0:03:05.400 --> 0:03:09.800 Although they became popular recently, the idea goes back until 0:03:10.600 --> 0:03:15.000 ninete April seventeen specifically, is when a patent was filed 0:03:15.800 --> 0:03:18.880 for granted. I suppose it was filed filed. It wasn't 0:03:18.919 --> 0:03:21.520 until I think sixty six that it was granted, But 0:03:22.160 --> 0:03:26.359 it was for a smokeless, non tobacco cigarette, which is 0:03:26.480 --> 0:03:30.320 essentially the ancestor to the East SIGs we see today. 0:03:30.360 --> 0:03:33.480 Not not that I don't know of any that were 0:03:33.520 --> 0:03:37.360 produced based off this first design, but it had the 0:03:37.440 --> 0:03:41.720 same basic components. Um not not designed the same way 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:44.480 as today's e cigarettes, but the same you know, elements 0:03:44.520 --> 0:03:47.240 that you would find in the ones of today. Right. 0:03:47.280 --> 0:03:51.800 This modern movement started as an industry in China. NPR 0:03:51.920 --> 0:03:55.360 credits the inventor is being one home Lick, Right, yeah, 0:03:55.400 --> 0:03:59.440 Han Lick He used a cartridge that had liquid nicotine 0:03:59.480 --> 0:04:02.760 mixed in a propolene glycol solution. We'll talk a little 0:04:02.760 --> 0:04:06.080 bit more about propoline glicoon the second fun stuff, and 0:04:06.200 --> 0:04:10.320 put that in an electronic device and called it essentially 0:04:10.360 --> 0:04:14.240 the equivalent of an electronic cigarette. The market, um, it 0:04:14.280 --> 0:04:18.520 was successful in China, you could say it was incredibly successful. 0:04:18.560 --> 0:04:21.120 So in the early to mid two thousand's it got 0:04:21.560 --> 0:04:24.640 um well, it really made a name for itself, and 0:04:24.640 --> 0:04:28.400 then it started to expand beyond the Chinese market. Right. 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:30.760 They were introduced in the US market in two thousands 0:04:30.839 --> 0:04:33.760 seven and have become really huge. The market is worth 0:04:33.800 --> 0:04:38.080 over two billion dollars per year according to some estimates. Yikes. Alright, 0:04:38.120 --> 0:04:41.599 So before we talk about the the technology, let's talk 0:04:41.640 --> 0:04:45.719 about nicotine itself and what it does. Share. What happens 0:04:45.720 --> 0:04:49.200 when you when you smoke a nicotine cigarette, when you 0:04:49.279 --> 0:04:52.520 inhale nicotine in one form or another? Good question. So 0:04:52.760 --> 0:04:54.800 with a with a classic cigarette, what you do is 0:04:54.880 --> 0:04:57.880 you've got tobacco, right, that's your basic plant, and the 0:04:58.000 --> 0:05:01.960 nicotine is released in the smoke generated by burning that tobacco. 0:05:02.080 --> 0:05:05.520 So by inhaling the smoke, you are transmitting that that 0:05:05.600 --> 0:05:08.360 nicotine into your system, transferring it, I guess I should 0:05:08.400 --> 0:05:12.240 say rather so it gets absorbed through the mucoastal linings 0:05:12.279 --> 0:05:15.040 and the nose, mouth, and lungs when you inhale this, 0:05:15.440 --> 0:05:18.359 and then the nicotine travels through the bloodstream to the brain. 0:05:18.760 --> 0:05:22.799 There it has a party time with your adrenal glands 0:05:22.839 --> 0:05:26.880 to produce epinephrin, also known as adrenaline. Any of you 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.080 guys out there who are big fans of the stuff 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:31.720 you should know podcast have heard those guys talk about 0:05:31.720 --> 0:05:33.599 adrenaline a lot. You know. This is the whole fighter 0:05:33.720 --> 0:05:37.960 flight reflex thing. That's that's the thing that really fuels that. So, yeah, 0:05:38.120 --> 0:05:40.440 same sort of stuff here. As a result, you have 0:05:40.520 --> 0:05:44.200 some other physiological effects take place, including an increase in 0:05:44.240 --> 0:05:49.120 your heart rate and blood pressure, and it stimulates dopamine production, 0:05:49.400 --> 0:05:53.040 dopamine being the neuro transmitter that controls the pleasure center 0:05:53.080 --> 0:05:55.200 in your brain. Yeah, this would be one of those 0:05:55.440 --> 0:05:59.200 reasons why people who crave a cigarette get that calming effect. 0:05:59.240 --> 0:06:01.600 They get that play as you're released when they are 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:05.400 smoking a cigarettes. Not just that uh it feels like 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:08.320 they're doing something familiar, although that may play a part two. 0:06:08.800 --> 0:06:12.520 It's that they're literally releasing a neurotransmitter that affects the 0:06:12.520 --> 0:06:15.760 pleasure center of the brain. Now, nicotine does not have 0:06:15.880 --> 0:06:19.200 to necessarily be inhaled. It can be absorbed through other means, 0:06:19.240 --> 0:06:21.760 like in the gastro intestinal tract or through the skin, 0:06:22.240 --> 0:06:24.479 which is why you have things like nicotine gum and 0:06:24.560 --> 0:06:27.880 nicotine skin patches for people who are trying to break 0:06:27.920 --> 0:06:31.520 themselves in the habit of smoking. Now, it's a stimulant, 0:06:32.000 --> 0:06:34.720 but like I said, smokers talk about the calming effect 0:06:34.720 --> 0:06:37.520 it has when they're craving a cigarette, which may partially 0:06:37.560 --> 0:06:40.200 be a ritual yeah, more than anything else, that whole 0:06:40.279 --> 0:06:44.359 routine of of whatever steps a smoker goes through before 0:06:44.400 --> 0:06:47.280 they light up, because this is a very ritualized. It's 0:06:47.279 --> 0:06:49.360 part of the habit. Absolutely. Yeah, So you know you 0:06:49.440 --> 0:06:51.240 might see people who are tapping their cigarettes in a 0:06:51.240 --> 0:06:53.800 certain number of times. All these sort of these things 0:06:53.839 --> 0:06:57.200 are comforting because they are ritualized. On top of that, 0:06:57.240 --> 0:07:00.000 you have that dopamine release that also has that calming effect. 0:07:00.640 --> 0:07:03.520 And when you get down to it, nicotine is an 0:07:03.520 --> 0:07:09.560 incredibly addictive drug, as addictive as like heroin and cocaine. Yeah, 0:07:09.920 --> 0:07:12.560 you probably have heard that before in health class or 0:07:12.640 --> 0:07:16.080 or a science class is absolutely true. It is, and 0:07:16.080 --> 0:07:18.040 we're now we're not saying necessarily that it has the 0:07:18.120 --> 0:07:21.800 same uh effect on your system as those other drugs, 0:07:21.840 --> 0:07:25.600 but it's certainly as addictive. So once you have developed 0:07:25.600 --> 0:07:30.560 this physical and psychological addiction to a substance, when you 0:07:30.600 --> 0:07:32.760 get that substance, like if you're craving that substance and 0:07:32.840 --> 0:07:35.520 you get it, then you feel a relief, even if 0:07:35.560 --> 0:07:38.920 it's a stimulant, right, And nicotine by itself is not 0:07:39.040 --> 0:07:42.120 necessarily the worst thing for you, but getting it through 0:07:42.160 --> 0:07:45.000 tobacco smoke is pretty nasty, yeah, because you've got a 0:07:45.000 --> 0:07:48.440 lot of other things in cigarettes besides just the nicotine, 0:07:48.520 --> 0:07:51.960 And that's where you see things like toxins and carcinogens 0:07:52.000 --> 0:07:55.040 that will cause health problems down the road for a 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:59.200 lot of people. So while nicotine itself may not necessarily 0:07:59.560 --> 0:08:03.400 have that toxicity or carcinogenic property, the stuff that goes 0:08:03.440 --> 0:08:08.200 along with regular cigarettes certainly does. So we all know 0:08:08.480 --> 0:08:10.400 smoking is bad for you. We're not going to spend 0:08:10.440 --> 0:08:13.040 a whole lot of time talking about that, yeah, I mean, 0:08:13.120 --> 0:08:17.080 especially because smokers themselves seem to know it. As according 0:08:17.120 --> 0:08:18.840 to a report that was put out by the U 0:08:18.920 --> 0:08:21.800 s Department of Health and Human Services. Almost se of 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.800 adult smokers surveyed so that they wanted to quit, and 0:08:24.880 --> 0:08:28.840 some reported having attempted to quit in the previous year. 0:08:29.320 --> 0:08:32.160 But how how do you go about breaking such a 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:36.000 strong psychological and physiological habit. Now, this is why we 0:08:36.080 --> 0:08:39.280 saw the rise of things like nicotine gum and nicotine 0:08:39.320 --> 0:08:42.320 skin patches, because that was all meant to kind of 0:08:42.360 --> 0:08:46.679 help people first get rid of cigarettes, right, but they 0:08:46.720 --> 0:08:50.640 still need to have that nicotine release or else they 0:08:50.760 --> 0:08:54.040 are having these terms. Yeah, and the more you go 0:08:54.120 --> 0:08:56.640 through withdrawal, the more likely you are to go back 0:08:56.679 --> 0:08:59.200 to a bad habit. So that was meant to try 0:08:59.240 --> 0:09:02.680 and help them trend position off to eventually wean themselves 0:09:02.679 --> 0:09:05.720 off of nicotine entirely. That was the idea. Unless your 0:09:05.800 --> 0:09:07.760 sherlock and you decide that you need like three or 0:09:07.760 --> 0:09:09.400 four of them on you at a time in order 0:09:09.440 --> 0:09:12.520 to really think clearly, by the way, do not do that. 0:09:12.520 --> 0:09:16.120 That's a terrible idea, not recommended. You can. By the way, 0:09:16.200 --> 0:09:17.800 this is a bit of a spoiler alert, but later 0:09:17.800 --> 0:09:20.360 in the podcast, you can suffer nicotine poisoning and it 0:09:20.440 --> 0:09:25.080 is serious stuff. Anyway, so the cigarettes are a little different, 0:09:25.120 --> 0:09:27.360 you know, because it all depends on how First of all, 0:09:27.400 --> 0:09:30.440 they were marketed for a really long time as a 0:09:30.520 --> 0:09:34.040 means for people who are smokers to wean themselves off 0:09:34.080 --> 0:09:36.400 of cigarettes and go to e cigarettes, which would be 0:09:36.440 --> 0:09:39.680 in theory safer, right. I believe in the United Kingdom 0:09:39.720 --> 0:09:42.800 they can only be sold and marketed furthermore, as a 0:09:42.840 --> 0:09:46.920 device for smoking cessation. Interesting, and we'll talk more about 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:49.840 why that's interesting in a minute. But yeah, so some 0:09:49.880 --> 0:09:53.800 people are using this as a way of quitting smoking. 0:09:53.840 --> 0:09:56.360 Some people are using it as sort of just a transition, 0:09:56.440 --> 0:10:00.200 like a lateral move, like they're not gonna quit, they're 0:10:00.240 --> 0:10:02.240 just they're saying they're saying, well, i've heard that this 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.679 is safer than real cigarettes, so I'm going to switch 0:10:04.720 --> 0:10:08.680 to this. And there's also some concern uh that this 0:10:08.800 --> 0:10:13.240 could be enticing people to start smoking because of the 0:10:13.280 --> 0:10:17.400 perceived safety benefit, right, the idea that oh I can 0:10:17.440 --> 0:10:20.280 do this cool thing and I don't have all those 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:25.240 downsides of like lung cancer. That's awesome. Sign me up. Well, 0:10:26.080 --> 0:10:29.520 hold on, folks, because we've got to talk about everything here. Also, 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:34.000 we should mention not all the cigarettes use nicotine. In 0:10:34.040 --> 0:10:37.920 their um in their cartridges. Some of it is more 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:42.840 of a flavored liquid mixture, so you're breathing in flavored vapor, 0:10:43.440 --> 0:10:46.000 but there could be other issues with that as well. 0:10:46.120 --> 0:10:51.000 So anyway, now we've laid the groundwork, it's about time 0:10:51.040 --> 0:10:54.000 to talk about how these things work. All right, So 0:10:54.080 --> 0:10:57.040 these are electronic cigarettes. That means there's going to be 0:10:57.120 --> 0:11:00.719 certain components that you would expect right off the bat. Uh, 0:11:00.880 --> 0:11:04.640 some kind of electronics. Yeah, and electronics have to have power, 0:11:04.840 --> 0:11:07.240 so therefore there's got to be a power source, which 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:11.000 means you're not going to see someone plug in a 0:11:11.080 --> 0:11:13.200 cigarette and stand next to an outlet all day, I 0:11:13.200 --> 0:11:16.000 would mention not all day. I mean, some of them 0:11:16.000 --> 0:11:19.679 are rechargeable, so you can technically sort of USB plugged 0:11:19.679 --> 0:11:22.679 them into an outlet. But at anyway, there's a battery 0:11:22.800 --> 0:11:27.679 involved in in this cigarette looking thing. Um, And you know, 0:11:28.120 --> 0:11:32.040 essentially they convert this liquid possibly liquid nicotine into a 0:11:32.120 --> 0:11:35.120 vapor which the user then inhales, right, And the way 0:11:35.360 --> 0:11:37.599 it converts liquid into a vapor, you know that we 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:39.360 kind of just sort of gloss over it, but no, 0:11:39.480 --> 0:11:41.440 the way it's actually working is there's a heating element 0:11:41.559 --> 0:11:44.880 inside these devices Normally you've got some sort of wick 0:11:45.200 --> 0:11:48.439 that wicks in liquid and then wrapped around that wick 0:11:48.679 --> 0:11:51.319 is a heating element, like a coil of wire. Okay, 0:11:51.800 --> 0:11:56.839 Now we've talked about electric resistance a lot. Right. Resistance 0:11:56.920 --> 0:12:00.120 is when you are passing a current through something, it 0:12:00.200 --> 0:12:03.000 resists that and you lose some energy in the form 0:12:03.040 --> 0:12:06.600 of heat. Uh. And this case, something that's a heating 0:12:06.600 --> 0:12:09.000 element is designed to heat up. It's meant to have 0:12:09.040 --> 0:12:12.679 a high resistance so that it heats up very quickly 0:12:12.679 --> 0:12:14.319 with just a little bit of power running through it, 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:16.760 a little bit electricity running through it. So this heating 0:12:16.800 --> 0:12:20.680 element heats up very quickly, converting that liquid into a gas, 0:12:20.720 --> 0:12:24.760 which then you can inhale. Uh. And it's supposed to 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:27.079 warm it up. So it's a one it's supposed to 0:12:27.120 --> 0:12:29.560 be a pleasant sensation, and two it's supposed to kind 0:12:29.559 --> 0:12:32.880 of mimic the feeling you would have your inhaling smoke. Yeah, 0:12:33.440 --> 0:12:37.600 because fire has Yeah. Turns out I have to remind 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:41.720 myself of that frequently at Yeah. Yeah. Anyone who has 0:12:41.760 --> 0:12:44.960 ever been burnt by something like this, you you remember it. 0:12:45.080 --> 0:12:48.280 So that that little element, that heating element that turns 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:53.360 the liquid into a vapor is usually called an atomizer. Uh. 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:55.760 This is something that you often will hear used in 0:12:55.760 --> 0:13:00.000 in lots of different products, not just a heating element. 0:13:00.160 --> 0:13:03.599 Atomizer doesn't have to have heat, turning something from a 0:13:03.640 --> 0:13:06.280 liquid into a vapor, yeah, into some sort of vapor 0:13:06.400 --> 0:13:09.880 or missed usually by making a liquid into very very 0:13:10.040 --> 0:13:13.480 very very tiny droplets. So you like like an ald 0:13:13.559 --> 0:13:16.080 like a perfume bottle as an atomizer in it so 0:13:16.120 --> 0:13:18.760 that it can convert the liquid perfume into a missed 0:13:18.840 --> 0:13:22.880 spray and uh, and so similar sort of thing here, 0:13:23.120 --> 0:13:26.959 we also have the heating element. Now, generally speaking, this 0:13:27.040 --> 0:13:30.840 whole process is usually triggered by a change in pressure, 0:13:31.280 --> 0:13:34.840 meaning that when you're sucking on this electronic cigarette, that's 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:37.400 when it generates the vapor. It's it's the key. So 0:13:37.440 --> 0:13:40.560 you've got a sensor in there that's more or less 0:13:40.600 --> 0:13:43.720 detecting a drop in pressure which indicates someone's taking a puff, 0:13:44.240 --> 0:13:47.040 and that's when it's doing it. You could have electronic 0:13:47.040 --> 0:13:50.040 cigarettes where it doesn't do it based upon when you puff. 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:52.520 It could have a button on it and then you inhale. 0:13:52.880 --> 0:13:55.040 But in general, the most the ones I've seen are 0:13:55.840 --> 0:13:59.800 responsive to that that yeah, because it's because it's like 0:14:00.040 --> 0:14:02.679 in trying to mimic what an actual cigarette is like. 0:14:03.320 --> 0:14:07.280 So now in smoke tobacco, that nicotine it's found in 0:14:07.320 --> 0:14:11.440 the smoke itself. But the SIGs don't actually create smoke. 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:15.560 You're not burning anything. So since you're not burning anything, 0:14:16.040 --> 0:14:19.600 then you can't have smoke. Now, anyone who's seen or 0:14:19.800 --> 0:14:22.680 used an e sig has seen that kind of cloud 0:14:22.760 --> 0:14:24.920 that looks like smoke come out, and you might be thinking, 0:14:25.840 --> 0:14:29.040 what's up with that. If it's not creating smoke, where's 0:14:29.040 --> 0:14:31.600 this stuff coming from. Well, we've already talked about it 0:14:31.600 --> 0:14:33.920 a little bit. It's it's a vapor and not vapors. 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.720 And I've got the vapors. No I can explain to 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:38.680 anyone who's not from the South what the vapors are, 0:14:39.480 --> 0:14:41.680 but it is. It is a polite way of saying 0:14:41.720 --> 0:14:45.080 that you're having some you're having some issues. So this 0:14:45.200 --> 0:14:49.760 is a vapor that is made from propylene glycol, which 0:14:49.880 --> 0:14:52.440 is the stuff in fog machine. Wait a minute, I've 0:14:52.480 --> 0:14:55.400 been told more times than I care to admit not 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:58.840 to breathe in the fog generated by these fog machines. 0:14:59.000 --> 0:15:01.160 It's actually been a p as a food additive by 0:15:01.200 --> 0:15:04.480 the FDA because it's a it's a nice stable solvent 0:15:04.600 --> 0:15:07.960 for stuff like food coloring and flavoring, and one of 0:15:07.960 --> 0:15:10.960 its physical properties is that it vaporizes into a fog 0:15:11.040 --> 0:15:14.160 when it's heated or briskly shaken. It Also it also 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:16.840 absorbs water, so it's used to maintain moisture levels and 0:15:16.960 --> 0:15:21.440 some medications and foods and cosmetics. UM. It's furthermore f 0:15:21.640 --> 0:15:24.720 y i uh component of anti freeze and some de 0:15:25.000 --> 0:15:29.280 icing solutions. It's a solvent in some paints and plastics, 0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:33.000 and it's used to make polyesters. But that doesn't mean 0:15:33.080 --> 0:15:34.960 that your e cigarette is filled with anti freeze. They 0:15:35.040 --> 0:15:38.040 just share a common component, right, Which is interesting because 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:40.000 we have a study we'll be talking about where one 0:15:40.040 --> 0:15:42.080 of the things they found as a study by the 0:15:42.080 --> 0:15:45.040 FDA was saying that there was a chemical in there 0:15:45.080 --> 0:15:47.080 that was found in anti freeze, and I wonder if 0:15:47.080 --> 0:15:49.840 it was this one, because if it were, that's not 0:15:50.080 --> 0:15:52.800 that's a little misleading. Yes, it's kind of like saying 0:15:52.840 --> 0:15:56.360 that a derivative of formaldehyde has all the properties of 0:15:56.400 --> 0:16:00.280 formaldehyde and it doesn't and it doesn't, or like saying like, well, 0:16:00.320 --> 0:16:03.760 this carbon based thing is made with carbon, which which 0:16:03.800 --> 0:16:11.040 is bad. That's it's far too simple. The answer to 0:16:11.080 --> 0:16:13.840 this question is always looked deeper, all right, So these 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:17.720 cartridges can contain the nicotine or be nicotine free. And 0:16:17.760 --> 0:16:20.640 the thing is that manufacturers can actually tweak exactly how 0:16:20.720 --> 0:16:23.920 much nicotine is in a cartridge. So theoretically they could 0:16:23.960 --> 0:16:27.440 make a line of different cartridges with different amounts of 0:16:27.520 --> 0:16:31.000 nicotine in each different version. And they certainly do sell 0:16:31.280 --> 0:16:34.960 cartridges with that are marketed as having different amounts of 0:16:35.040 --> 0:16:38.080 nicotine in them. Which so that you can step down exactly, Yeah, 0:16:38.120 --> 0:16:42.840 you can, you can start to step Yeah, the intent 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:46.040 is to step down, but you know, we've got some 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:48.080 people out there who are real go getters. But the 0:16:48.160 --> 0:16:49.880 idea is to step down so that you can wean 0:16:49.920 --> 0:16:53.720 yourself off of cigarettes entirely, uh, mostly to wean yourself 0:16:53.720 --> 0:16:58.600 off nicotine entirely. We should be more specific, honestly. So, um, 0:16:58.680 --> 0:17:00.760 you can also just make it flavored. So some of 0:17:00.800 --> 0:17:02.920 the flavors, and there are things like you can get 0:17:03.000 --> 0:17:06.280 caramel or coffee or apple or Earl Gray tea or 0:17:06.320 --> 0:17:08.640 I mean there's there's lots of different ones. Yeah, when 0:17:08.640 --> 0:17:11.159 you go into a vape shop, they will often have 0:17:11.200 --> 0:17:14.800 an entire wall dedicated to different flavors. This, by the way, 0:17:14.920 --> 0:17:20.320 has created some uh some questions recently in in legal circles. 0:17:20.320 --> 0:17:23.000 Will get to that about how how these flavors may 0:17:23.080 --> 0:17:27.119 or may not be a good idea. So one about 0:17:27.520 --> 0:17:30.800 health concerns. We know the health concerns with cigarettes. We've 0:17:31.359 --> 0:17:35.560 got decades and decades of research. Yes, I think it 0:17:35.600 --> 0:17:39.120 goes back to the nineteen thirties. So and since this 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:42.360 is a relatively new product on the mass market, Unfortunately 0:17:42.400 --> 0:17:44.720 the answers that we don't know what the health effects 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.720 maybe yeah, in fact there are We're not saying there 0:17:47.760 --> 0:17:51.080 are no studies out there were has Most of the 0:17:51.080 --> 0:17:53.840 studies that are out there are either inconclusive or they 0:17:53.880 --> 0:17:58.200 conflict with each other, so inclusion is hard to to 0:17:58.240 --> 0:18:00.520 come to. And at any rate this these have only 0:18:00.520 --> 0:18:05.919 been running since at best the mid two thousands. So first, 0:18:06.119 --> 0:18:08.200 there's not a lot we don't know. The World Health 0:18:08.320 --> 0:18:10.800 Organization w h O, part of the u N has 0:18:10.840 --> 0:18:15.520 been looking into it, but no conclusive findings. Um, there's there. 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.439 And then there's the issue. The FDA has done some 0:18:17.480 --> 0:18:19.639 studies on various cartridges. This is the one I was 0:18:19.640 --> 0:18:23.040 talking about earlier that showed that ingredients that were listed 0:18:23.480 --> 0:18:26.760 were not always what you got in the actual cartridge. 0:18:26.800 --> 0:18:29.760 They would test the chemicals within the cartridge and then 0:18:29.800 --> 0:18:32.040 see if it matches up with what was essentially on 0:18:32.119 --> 0:18:35.520 the list of ingredients, and they said that the concentrations 0:18:35.520 --> 0:18:37.760 didn't match up all the time, So sometimes you've got 0:18:37.840 --> 0:18:41.119 more or less nicotine than what was being advertised, or 0:18:41.160 --> 0:18:43.280 that you were even getting other chemicals that were not 0:18:43.440 --> 0:18:47.080 listed on the ingredients at all, including some toxins. In 0:18:47.119 --> 0:18:48.879 this case, the one of the ones they mentioned was 0:18:49.000 --> 0:18:50.880 it's one that's found an anti freeze, and that made 0:18:50.880 --> 0:18:55.920 me wonder if it was the the the fog stuff. Uh. 0:18:56.080 --> 0:18:58.520 At any rate, I mean, it's interesting to me that 0:18:58.560 --> 0:19:01.400 the FDA put out the study because the FDA does 0:19:01.440 --> 0:19:05.479 not regulate yeah, this liquid. There's still a lot of 0:19:05.480 --> 0:19:08.439 debate on whether or not the FDA will. Uh. It 0:19:08.680 --> 0:19:13.120 confuses me. I mean, granted, there's not necessarily nicotine in everything, 0:19:13.280 --> 0:19:14.880 but they did find that even some of the ones 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:16.560 that said there was no nicotine in it, there was 0:19:16.600 --> 0:19:20.399 totally nicotine in it. Um. So again, this is a 0:19:20.400 --> 0:19:22.359 case by case basis. It's not like you know, you 0:19:22.400 --> 0:19:24.399 can't point to the entire industry and say this is 0:19:24.440 --> 0:19:26.480 a problem. It may just be something that a couple 0:19:26.520 --> 0:19:28.880 of different manufacturers have issues. Oh sure, I mean, but 0:19:28.880 --> 0:19:30.600 but part of the problem is that there are tons 0:19:30.680 --> 0:19:36.040 of manufacturers out there. Yeah. Yeah, there's no standardization here. Uh, 0:19:36.160 --> 0:19:39.440 there can be lots of different types of cartridges and atomizers. 0:19:39.800 --> 0:19:43.159 The atomizer can affect how much of a given chemical 0:19:43.320 --> 0:19:47.399 you inhale per puff versus just the cartridge itself. So 0:19:47.480 --> 0:19:50.119 it could be that there's just a component inside the 0:19:50.160 --> 0:19:53.080 e cigarette that is causing people to get either more 0:19:53.240 --> 0:19:56.520 or less of a particular chemical per puff than what 0:19:56.680 --> 0:19:59.359 was intended. Uh. So there's a lot of a lot 0:19:59.440 --> 0:20:02.040 of variable is here, and that's part of what makes 0:20:02.240 --> 0:20:06.160 doing a study so difficult, because it's not just the 0:20:06.160 --> 0:20:08.280 the chemical that you have to look at, it's the 0:20:08.440 --> 0:20:12.600 entire picture, and because there's so many different variations on it, 0:20:12.600 --> 0:20:18.240 it's hard to draw any hard conclusions, especially this early on. So, uh, 0:20:18.400 --> 0:20:21.480 we don't know what kind of health hazards there could 0:20:21.560 --> 0:20:24.560 be using the cigarettes, And we don't even technically know 0:20:24.840 --> 0:20:28.879 whether or not, I mean, you know, medically conclusively. Research wise, 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:32.760 we don't know whether e cigarettes actually help people quit smoking. Yes, 0:20:32.920 --> 0:20:36.359 there is a lot of conflicting reports out there. There are, 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:38.320 i should say, a lot of conflicting reports out there 0:20:38.400 --> 0:20:41.560 that that state whether or not they are helpful for 0:20:41.600 --> 0:20:45.840 people who are trying to quit. Some of them say absolutely, 0:20:45.840 --> 0:20:48.080 some of them say absolutely not, and they should not 0:20:48.200 --> 0:20:52.800 ever be marketed that way. So it's it's lots of 0:20:52.960 --> 0:20:58.119 conflicting information. Yeah, there's also been some research indicating that 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:03.000 these things aren't necessarily as safe as they're being marketed as. Um. 0:21:03.040 --> 0:21:06.919 Some studies have shown diminished lung function, airway resistance, and 0:21:07.000 --> 0:21:10.080 cellular changes that may lead to lung cancer in people 0:21:10.240 --> 0:21:13.239 who use e cigarettes. And it may even be that 0:21:13.280 --> 0:21:16.880 those devices are releasing stuff into our lungs that that 0:21:17.000 --> 0:21:21.360 normal cigarettes wouldn't, like metals. Yeah, that's that's not good 0:21:21.359 --> 0:21:25.439 stuff or other or other byproducts. Yeah, exactly. And also, 0:21:25.560 --> 0:21:27.680 when you get down to it, even if even if 0:21:27.680 --> 0:21:30.760 we say that maybe these health hazards, maybe studies will 0:21:30.800 --> 0:21:33.320 bear out over time that it's it's not as big 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.199 a concern and that they are in fact safer than cigarettes, 0:21:36.600 --> 0:21:39.120 and maybe even that they help you in the long 0:21:39.200 --> 0:21:42.639 run get rid of that addiction. Here's the thing, if 0:21:42.640 --> 0:21:45.520 you're using those nicotine cartridges, you're still delivering a dose 0:21:45.560 --> 0:21:49.760 of a highly addictive substance to your your bloodstream, and 0:21:49.840 --> 0:21:53.879 that addiction creates that physical and psychological craving that you 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:58.560 feel necessary to to uh appease on a regular basis. 0:21:59.000 --> 0:22:02.520 So people who would think, oh, I want to try 0:22:02.520 --> 0:22:05.320 this out because it's safer and it looks like it's 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:08.840 kind of kind of an interesting, uh cool like blade 0:22:09.160 --> 0:22:12.840 it's a blade runner way of smoking. Um, it turns 0:22:12.880 --> 0:22:15.399 out that you know, you're you're subjecting yourself to a 0:22:15.480 --> 0:22:17.919 very addictive substance that you could then you know, develop 0:22:17.920 --> 0:22:20.879 a habit, and that can get pretty expensive, uh, even 0:22:20.920 --> 0:22:23.760 if the health hazards are not that that great in 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:27.920 the long run. Uh. Also, you can develop a tolerance 0:22:27.960 --> 0:22:30.240 to drugs, which means you need to have more of 0:22:30.320 --> 0:22:33.479 whatever the drug is in order for it to have 0:22:33.560 --> 0:22:38.040 the same sort of effect both physically and psychologically. And 0:22:38.160 --> 0:22:43.399