There’s a smoking trend that’s enticing young people across the nation – e-cigarettes and vape pens can be found on almost every college campus. While it’s super trendy, it also has numerous benefits over smoking traditional cigarettes. Here are some reasons smoking vape pens and e-cigarettes is considered safer:

One cigarette takes 7 minutes off your life

It’s no secret that smoking cigarettes severely affects your health. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that cigarette smoking causes more than 480,000 deaths each year in the U.S. – more than HIV, illegal drug use, alcohol abuse, car accidents, and firearm-related incidences combined. 

Conversely, there have been no studies to show that smoking vape pens or e-cigarettes take any significant amount of time off a person’s life. While vaping is still new to the market, having been introduced in 2007, it’s been closely watched by health and safety experts around the world. 

Far less carcinogens than cigarettes

Cigarettes – even the “natural” kind – have numerous cancer-causing chemicals in them, referred to formally as “carcinogens.” There are more than 20 carcinogens in each cigarette, some of the most notoriously dangerous include:

- Nicotine

- Hydrogen Cyanide

- Lead

- Arsenic

- Carbon Monoxide

These carcinogens are all strongly linked to causing cancer, heart disease and lung disease. Many of the chemicals in cigarettes don’t come into existence until the tobacco reacts with an open flame and goes through a chemical reaction (and you thought your freshman chemistry class was for nothing). 

Vaping eliminates a flame and removes most of the carcinogens. Studies have shown that the vapor produced by vape pens and e-cigarettes have far less carcinogens than cigarette smoke. A few of the chemicals found in vapor include:

- Nicotine

- Propylene Glycol (vegetable oil)

- Vegetable Glycerol

- Acetaldehyde

- Nitrosamines

Reduced fire hazards

According to the U.S. Fire Administration, about 7,600 cigarette-related fires occur each year and account for about 365 deaths and 925 injuries. These number account for all residential fires caused by cigarettes, pipes, cigars, and heat from other, undetermined smoked materials.

Vape pens and e-cigarettes have caused far less property damage and deaths. This is not to say that the pens are harmless; according to Greg Bentley, an injury attorney at Bentley & More in Irvine, CA and the leading attorney on e-cigarette explosions in the U.S., there have been over 150 injuries caused by exploding vape pens and e-cigarettes since 2007. There have been 243 cases reported of explosions during use, charging, or transport. Although the fire hazard has severely decreased in vape pens and e-cigarettes, it’s important to remember that it hasn’t disappeared completely.

They can help avid smokers quit

A study done by the British Medical Journal claims that people who use vape pens and e-cigarettes are more likely than those who don’t to quit smoking. This is because vape pens and e-cigarettes, as discussed previously, offer smokers a reduced amount of nicotine than cigarettes. Smaller doses of nicotine allows smokers to slowly ween themselves off the addiction instead of quitting cold turkey.

It’s safer on the wallet

Financial health is always important along with overall health – which is why vaping is a better alternative to smoking if you’re looking to save your pennies. Tobacco Control recently did a study on the costs of smoking cigarettes compared to the costs of vaping – the results were dramatic. 

Tobacco Control used the price of cigarettes in New York as the basis for the study – around $13 for a pack of 20, and the average amount a cigarette smoker smokes – about 5 packs per week. A smoker buying 5 packs a week will spend about $3100 a year just on cigarettes, and even more on health-related costs and increased insurance prices.

Using vape pens and e-cigarettes requires a large initial investment, usually about $50, to purchase the necessary parts for the pen. After the initial purchase, an avid vaper can expect to spend about $720 a year on vape juice refills – a $2,380 difference from buying and smoking cigarettes.

There are numerous health, safety, and financial incentives to switching to e-cigarettes – especially if you’re already an avid smoker. Like any other vice, it has its dangers; but if you must choose between vaping and smoking cigarettes – vaping is statistically the safer route.