It’s no secret that there are some obvious differences in the safety of electronic cigarettes as reported by the media when compared to the facts presented by distributors of the product. So who’s right? Would you believe both of them? If we break the argument of both sides down to the nuts and bolts of the disagreement, we will see that they are both correct and are actually comparing apples to oranges.

See if you can decipher the problem by looking at the claims of each side. The media will report saying, “Electronic cigarettes are not FDA Approved and may pose certain health risks to its users.” Distributors on the other hand state, “E-cigarettes are 99.9% safer than traditional tobacco cigarettes.” Did you catch it?

The poor translation between the two sources stems from the starting point of “safety”. Distributors are comparing electronic cigarettes to tobacco cigarettes. The media is comparing them to not smoking at all. This is baffling to e-cig distributors as they implicitly market the product to current smokers who will gladly take any alternative to tobacco.

Combustion is at the heart of the toxins in cigarette smoke. Or perhaps to be more clear, the creation of the smoke itself. When a flame hits the tobacco and ignites, it is in that moment that the 4,000 chemical agents come to life as a health hazard. And they can be created by lighting almost any organic product. The tobacco isn’t the biggest culprit in the health risk of smoking, it is the combustion process.

So if we take the ignition out of the combustion process, we are in essence also removing thousands of killer chemicals as well. And you know the carcinogens (cancer causing agents) you’re always warned about? They’re gone too. Now compare the electronic cigarette which is combustion free to a traditional cigarette and you’re suddenly viewing from a different angle. There is only one unproven ingredient in the liquid used by electronic cigarettes that is causing all of this fuss, but the fact still remains that these devices are combustion free.

While the media continues to report their “non-FDA approved” hoopla, smokers are taking well to this new alternative as the internet continues to get flooded with positive reviews from electronic cigarette users. Thousands of people have reported drastic improvements in their senses of taste and smell as well as their overall health after making the move away from tobacco products.

The media seems to be biased against them as much as distributors seem to be bias for them, but it is ultimately up to the smoker to decide how serious they are about a smoke-free alternative that may hold the key to helping them kick the smoking habit.