Smoking, or vaping, bad news both ways

I’m on the road a lot for my day job and so are the tunes on the radio — mostly classic rock from various stations. I enjoy listening while I drive all over the Valley. The songs keep me awake and alert on Alaska’s roads.

Lately, I have heard ads pop up about discount tobacco stores and E cigarettes around the Valley. Some even offer discounts for e-cigarette products for those trying to quit smoking traditional cigarettes. These attempts to cross over to e-cigarettes that go by the slang vapes or vaping are disturbing to me.

It irked me more and more as each ad replayed on the air. Let me tell you something: if you are going to quit smoking, quit completely. Don’t get suckered into e-cigarettes. That isn’t quitting, that is just changing to another nicotine delivery system. What good is that?

Look, I was a smoker for more than 30 years. Now I can tack on proudly the term “former” in front of smoker. I quit the really hard way and paid a heavy price. Heck I’ll still be paying for all those years smoking for the rest of my life. Take it from me, this vaping thing is just more bad news in a pretty package.

Liquid nicotine isn’t the only thing being vaporized in an e-cig. Solvents like propylene glycol, formaldehyde, glycerin and even the liquid flavorings make up the vapor mix. At least two of those chemicals are found in antifreeze and embalming fluid. The huge chemical mix in tobacco smoke and its affects on human body also is well known from decades of medical studies. Less is known about the long-term effects of the e-cigarette. They haven’t been around that long. While they may be cheaper, as makers of the devices allege, and maybe safer than the traditional cigarette, they are still just another unwanted health risk to the unsuspecting. Take that “maybe” with a 50-pound grain of salt.

Maybe e-cigarettes are the lesser of the two evils — there’s that word again — but the research shows they are far from benign. There is talk about including e-cigs in the smoking bans being proposed and debated in the Valley and the state. I believe this is the right action to take. I feel they should banned from advertising on the airwaves like cigarettes were from TV and radio back in the late ’60s and early ’70s.

Now I can’t tell you the adult reader what to do in life with choices of this nature. As a former smoker who loves living life each day as a blessing, I can only ask you with all my heart — if you don’t smoke, don’t start. If you do for God’s sake quit. You may fail many times. Don’t give up. Keep quitting.

As for these e-cigs, these are not a solution to quitting smoking. They are a con. Don’t fall for them. Save your money, save your life and try to live smoke and vapor free. That choice I leave to you.

Wasilla resident Daniel D. Grota retired from the U.S. Army after more than 21 years of service.