Big Tobacco made its fortune by promoting cigarette smoking as fashionable and cool. They targeted women and even children while hiding the fact that smoking cigarettes is directly related to cancer. To this day, it remains the leading cause of death in the United States and more than 16 million people suffer serious illnesses because of cigarettes.

Enter the e-cigarette, or vaporizer, which has become a safer alternative for smokers who are burdened by nicotine addiction. While vape use has grown dramatically in popularity, many want to know more about the big differences between traditional cigarettes and vapes.

According to the National Cancer Institute, cigarettes are loaded with carcinogens and the smoke contains over 4,000 chemicals. More than 250 are known poisons, about 40 have a direct relationship to cancer and at least one has a radioactive quality. Experts say that unless users get off tobacco products, approximately one billion people will die as a result in this century. Here is a short list of some of the more dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes.

Unlike traditional cancer sticks, vapes use liquid which is then turned in a steamy vapor by an e-cigarette device. The staggering amount of harmful chemicals in regular cigarettes are simply not found in vape juice, nor in the vapor emitted.

The point of vaping is the enjoyable activity of smoking, but without the risk. Rather than load the liquid with thousands of poisonous chemicals, the e-liquid keeps it simple and relatively safe.

• Many vapor liquids are comprised of USP propylene glycol, USP vegetable glycerin and distilled water. Propylene glycol and vegetable glycerin have both been deemed a safe additive by the FDA. Distilled water is just that, water.

• Vape juice generally uses a mix of natural and safe synthetic flavoring. One thing to keep in mind for people with allergies is that some may have nut elements.

• The most addictive ingredient in cigarettes is nicotine. Many vape liquids also include nicotine as an additive. However, nicotine is an addictive stimulant and has not been found to cause cancer on its own.

According to the National Cancer Institute, cigarette smoke damages just about every human organ. Cigarettes reduce your overall health and cause numerous types of cancer including lung, throat, mouth, kidney, pancreas and stomach. Cigarettes can also cause leukaemia.

On the other hand, vape use is not linked to cancer or any known ailment. Generally, side effects are quite mild and only include things like throat irritation and an occasional cough. Approximately two percent of vape users have reported increased blood pressure. But there are also some risks inn using vape especially if the vape is sub standardly made. Hence, always choose the best vape mod for your safety. 

As well as cigarettes being toxic to the smoker, they are also dangerous for those who breathe in the second-hand smoke, particularly that emitted from the burning tip. That’s because the amount of carcinogens are even higher in second-hand smoke.

Vapes, on the other hand, do not generate second-hand vapor from the device. The exhaled air does carry some nicotine, like cigarettes. However, because vape juice is not laden with carcinogens the vapor is considered relatively harmless.

One of the primary reasons that so many people suffer cancer and the debilitating effects that cigarettes have on the body is because they are unable to shake the addiction to nicotine. An entire industry has risen in an effort to get many people off nicotine such as the patch, hypnosis and a variety of therapies. Many of these methods have yielded mixed results at best. Time and time again, people return to cigarettes after quitting. Cigarettes are like a revolving door for many trying to kick the habit.

Those who have purchased a vaporizer pen, on the other hand, have enjoyed a strong success rate in being brought off smoking cigarettes. And for those who simply move their nicotine addiction from cigarettes to vapes, they are avoiding the harmful, cancer causing additives found in tobacco.

Like Big Tobacco, the vape industry is touting its wide range of products as hip, trendy and cool. It’s a marketing strategy that is working because vapor tends to have a pleasant, flavorful aroma and maintains the social aspects associated with group smoking. But the big difference between the two is that vapes won’t kill you.