Smoking & Vaping

Smoking of different substance has been a part of human culture for thousands of years. The smoking of hallucinogenic plants was used by religious leaders (such as Shamans or Mystics) to have religious experiences or to talk to spirits as long ago as ~5000 BCE.

The smoking of the leaves of the Tobacco plant (the main component of cigarettes) originated in North America in the native population, and was brought back to Europe by the first european explorers who explored the New World in ~1560s.

The smoking of tobacco quickly became a huge industry for the settlers in the new world, leading in part to the rise of slavery within the colonies in order to keep up with demand from Europe.

It wasn't until the early 20th century that the severe health risks caused by smoking tobacco became apparent. Over the last 60 years, there has been large decrease in people smoking in the U.K. due to this.

The graph below shows the percentage of the population of Great Britain which smoke over the last 50 years:-

As can be seen from the above graph in the 1940's over 60% of the male population smoked, whereas by 2009 that had dropped to ~20%. This reduction has been caused by people being much more aware of the risks of smoking on their health.

What's in a cigarette?

The main chemical most people are aware of in cigarette smoke is Nicotine. However, there are over 4,000 other chemicals in cigarette smoke.

Nicotine is the main chemical within cigarettes that causes addiction. Nicotine is addictive because it stimulates the reward centres of the brain into releasing chemicals including Serotonin, a chemical which is linked to happiness and pleasure.

The diagram below shows some of the chemicals found within cigarette smoke:-

Smoking and Health

As can be seen above, for the last ~60 years there has been a large decrease in smoking rates due to a better understanding of the health effects of smoking.

The diagram below shows some of the effects of smoking on the human body :

Methods to quit smoking 

Most methods designed to help someone quit smoking focus on the breaking or redirecting the addictive hold of Nicotine. These could be chemically or behaviourally based : 

Vaping and Teens

Vapes are designed to be a method of quitting smkoing of tobacco products through nicotine replacement therapy. In recent years, however, there has been a huge increase in their use beyond this intended purpose, particularly among teens and young adults. 

As can be seen from the graph above, the increase in vape use can be seen in connection with a drop in tobbaco use in teens, with 11 to 17 year olds in the UK now being twice as likely to vape than to smoke. 

Given the known health risks of tobacco smoking, the reduction in teen tobacco smoking within the UK is seen as very good thing. 

Research by the NHS has shown that in the short and medium term, that vaping is substantially less harmful than tobacco smoking. Vaping exposes users to far fewer toxins and at lower levels than smoking cigarettes. 

But 'fewer' and 'lower levels' does not mean the same as 'none'. There are still health risks associated with vaping, which is why the sale of vapes to children under the age of 18 is illegal in Scotland. 

Vapes contain nicotine, and may quickly become harmfully addictive for young people. This can affect a peroson's concentration and impact their ability to learn and study. Nicotine withdrawal can also disrupt sleep and may cause headaches. It can also affect their mental health and mood.

Although the short and medium term effect or vaping are known, as vapes are a relatively new product there is not much information known about their long term health impacts, especially on teens and young people. 

The long-term effects of vaping are still being researched, but research is starting to show that vaping can have a negative impact on the health of the heart and lungs.