WHO: e-cigarettes won't help you quit

SIEM REAP, Cambodia – Health experts yesterday warned against the use of sisha and the so-called e-cigarettes, claiming the devices are no different from real cigarettes in nicotine content.

Dr. Susan Mercado, regional adviser for Tobacco-Free Initiative of the World Health Organization (WHO)-Western Pacific Region Office, said sisha was proven to be harmful to health in a lot of international studies.

“One hour of sisha exposure is equivalent to 100 cigarettes. It’s quite toxic. It looks like it’s not harmful but it is harmful,” Mercado stressed.

During the regional workshop on implementing Article 13 of the WHO-initiated Framework Convention on Tobacco Control organized by Thailand-based Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance here, Mercado said the alternative methods of smoking have also been proven addictive because of their nicotine content.

The WHO describes sisha – or waterpipe tobacco – as a device made up of pipes from a container half filled with water that serves as a filter for the smoke drawn by suction from a funnel-shaped tobacco holder. Charcoal is placed on top of the container to burn the tobacco.

Sisha has been used for centuries in the Eastern Mediterranean region and is commonly found in bars in the Middle East but is becoming popular among the youth in Southeast Asia.

“Strictly speaking it is not a tobacco product. It’s not made of tobacco but the active ingredient is the same that you find in tobacco which is nicotine,” Mercado pointed out.

In the same forum, Dr. Maricar Limpin, executive director of the Framework Convention on Tobacco Control Alliance Philippines, said the proliferation of electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, is a “great cause of concern.”

“It gives one a false sense of security because it is being marketed as something that will help you quit smoking when, in fact, there is no evidence to prove that,” Limpin said.

First developed in Beijing, e-cigarette is an electronic device that looks like a real cigarette. By producing an inhaled mist, it supposedly simulates the act of tobacco smoking.

Limpin warned that the use of e-cigarettes is also addictive because they also contain nicotine, like real cigarettes.

“The problem with sisha and e-cigarettes is that they are being flavored to cover the (taste of nicotine). So you would think that there’s no nicotine in them until you develop addiction. That’s false advertising,” she said.

Limpin has urged governments to regulate the use of sisha and e-cigarettes to prevent them from worsening nicotine addiction, especially among the youth.

Nicotine is only one of 70 toxic chemicals, mostly carcinogenic, found in cigarettes. Among the toxic substances used by ordinary consumers are butane from cigarette lighters; cadmium from batteries; stearic acid (candle wax); toluene (industrial solvent); ammonia (toilet cleaner); paint; methanol (rocket fuel); carbon monoxide; arsenic (poison); methane (sewer gas); acetic acid (vinegar) and hexamine (barbeque lighter).

Just like cocaine and heroine, nicotine is addictive because it messes up the chemicals in the brain.

Nicotine affects the blood pressure and oxygen level in the body, causing the release of dopamine in the brain.

Dopamine is a chemical that gives pleasurable feelings and since it was triggered by nicotine, it relies on this toxic substance to achieve the desired sensation.