Smokeless tobacco raises concerns

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Benjamin Raughton
  • 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs
Barksdale Air Force Base, La. --  Around 2.2 percent of Airmen have used E-cigarettes in the past year, and have been tried by five percent of Airmen, according to data from a 2011 Department of Defense Survey of Health Related Behaviors.

E-cigarettes are vaporizers that appear to be long cigarettes or everyday objects, such as a ballpoint pen and are simulate the sensation of smoking by emitting doses of vapor. Heat vaporizes liquid nicotine in a small cartridge, although cartridges without nicotine are available.

E-cigarettes contain no tobacco products, and the nicotine is synthetic, she said.

The Louisiana tobacco use rate was 24.8 percent, while Barksdale, having the lowest tobacco use rate of any base in Air Force Global Strike Command, has a tobacco use rate of 19.5 percent, or 1,088 people. With growing E-cigarette use, health specialists are taking notice of the unregulated tobacco-less product.

"There is a real concern that unfettered access to and marketing of e-cigarettes will create a generation of youths hooked on nicotine," said Col. John Oh, Air Force Medical Support Agency chief of health promotion. "This trend could lead to greater traditional cigarette or other smokeless tobacco use "Not enough is known about the long-term safety of e-cigarettes to definitely state they are safe."

Barksdale's HAWC is also concerned about the growing use of e-cigarettes.

"We're very concerned about the potential safety and health consequences of e-cigarettes," McElveen said. "There is no government or Federal Department of Agriculture oversight of these products. Therefore, there is no way for the public to know for certain what chemicals are contained in e-cigarettes or what the short and long-term health implications might be."

Fortunately for users of both tobacco and e-cigarettes, there are options available to help users kick the habit. The HAWC's tobacco cessation program provides Airmen, dependents and civilian workers the tools and information needed to quit smoking. Users are also encouraged to make use of the Department of Defense tobacco cessation website, www.ucanquit2.org.

For more information, call the HAWC at 456-8046 or contact your unit PCM.