A student demonstrates how to use an e-cigarette. The ‘smoke’ is water vapor that results from the internal liquid heating up.
Megan Lunsford | The Scribe
Nov. 17, 2014
Ashley Thompson
[email protected]
Move over, cigarettes. With the advent of e-cigarettes and vaporizers, there are a number of different apparatus that can be utilized instead.
Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, were first sold in 2007 in the United States. No tobacco is smoked with an e-cigarette. Instead, the mechanism heats up and vaporizes a liquid which is inhaled.
A lighter is not necessary because they are powered by a lithium battery. Inside the device is normally a cartridge of liquid nicotine.
This alternative smoking option has proved popular for students. “E-cigarettes helped me quit smoking,” freshman business major Andrew Davis said. “I was pretty addicted for about a year and a half, I smoked a pack a day.”
Graduate student Kyle Popish tried multiple brands of e-cigarettes to quit smoking before finding the right brand.Previously, he had attempted quitting cold turkey, using the nicotine patch and using chewing gum, all unsuccessfully.
“I have smoked for about 15 years and have a two year old daughter so she was part of the motivation, but I have wanted to quit for about five years and just have not been able to accomplish it until now,” Popish said.
Popish commented on campus policies regarding e-cigarettes.
“I believe that you are not allowed to vape anywhere indoors. It is pretty easy to follow as I was a smoker and was used to going outside,” he said. “It initially makes things harder though as I had to be around people smoking regular cigarettes while trying to quit.”
Freshman Sean Sliney started using e-cigarettes when he was 16.
“I wanted to be able to get a buzz and have the feeling of smoking while chilling in school,” he said.
Davis explained that the amount of nicotine in the cartridges can be adjusted, making it easier to wean an addicted smoker off of the addictive substance. He does not recommend them except as a quitting method.
“If you don’t smoke cigarettes, don’t buy one. You don’t need one,” he said.
E-cigarettes are not excluded from UCCS’ smoking policies.
Anything considered a smoking apparatus is prohibited indoors, according to Brian McPike, director of Public Safety.
“We wanted to provide a smoke-free, tobacco-free environment, but also respect those who do smoke,” he said.
CU Boulder’s campus is completely smoke-free, something McPike does not foresee as a change coming to UCCS in the near future.
“Going smoke-free might isolate and offend some people,” he said. “We want to promote a healthy environment for those who choose to smoke.”
Smokers must be at least 25 feet from entrances.
Rachel Ricci | The Scribe
On Jan. 1, UCCS will implement a new smoking policy. According to McPike, this policy came about after extensive research by a committee made up of several faculty members from areas around campus.
Revising the policy was a process that took several months, McPike explained.
“We walked from one end of campus to the other side,” he said. “We took into account common practices, where people smoke right now.”
Designated smoking areas must be 25 feet away from any building, entrance or operative window, so as to keep smoke-free areas clear. Sliney thinks that e-cigarettes are better than regular cigarettes in terms of smell.
“E-cigs take away the nasty smell and lingering smoke that a normal cigarette has,” Sliney said. Davis thinks e-cigarettes will continue to expand.
“E-cigarettes are a growing enterprise. That’s their main selling point, ‘replace the cigarette,’” he said.