Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/455137
February 2015 | Overdrive | 27 T he lexicon jocks behind the Oxford English Dictionary named vape their 2014 word of the year following an ex- plosion in documented use of the term. Even before 2014, the practice of using electronic cigarettes and other personal vaporizer devices as a substitute for smoking tobacco had been growing steadily. The trend also is prevalent among truckers, whose inclination for smoking is explained easily: The profession is full of long solitary hours and high stress levels, particularly in high-traffi c environments. Nicotine, tobacco's addictive stimulant, not only can help fi ght fatigue, but often is described as a stress reliever. Recent Centers for Disease Control estimates note a 19 percent smoking rate among the U.S. adult population. When it comes to long-haul drivers, though, surveys within the last 10 years have shown rates well above 60 percent. Add those who describe themselves as former smokers, based on Overdrive's 2015 vaping survey of more than 1,000 drivers, and you can account for roughly 70 percent of the entire driver population. Truck stops have been carrying vari- ous e-cigarettes for years. Many now fea- ture the larger, better-performing gadgets that most vapers are choosing today. Part of vaping's newfound popularity among truckers and others is a percep- tion that it's a safer way to deliver nic- otine than smoking. The health danger in smoking tobacco is well-known, given the wide array of carcinogens in tobacco smoke. The vapor produced by e-cigs, however, contains largely only pharma- ceutical-grade nicotine and an airborne mist of whatever base liquid is used. The so-called "e-juice" is typically propylene glycol (PG), vegetable glycerin (VG) or a combination of the two. Any e-juice also contains fl avorings, in many cases identical or similar to fl avors used in food products. However, health professionals caution that long-term nicotine use is known to cause heart or cardiovascular issues. E-cigarettes largely do nothing to combat those issues unless a no-nicotine solution is used. Only 3 percent of operators in Overdrive's survey who'd tried vaping said they opted for no nicotine. But it can't be as bad as smoking, the thoughts of many a smoker-turned-va- per go. Media reports on vaping have proceeded from that assumption, given what is known about the ingredients in the liquids. The public-health wild card in vap- ing's newfound popularity is in part the newness itself: Long-term testing has not been done on potential harmful effects. Neither the base liquids nor many of their synthetic or natural fl avorings were imagined to be inhaled long-term on a daily basis. That's got regulators, doctors and the scientifi c community in a tizzy. Nonetheless, as the federal government moves to regulate what's now an estimat- ed $2 billion-a-year U.S. industry, new va- pers among the trucking community vape on, content in believing that the practice is effective "harm reduction." Vape 'em if you got 'em Andy and Cheryl Anderson, owner-op- erators of ABCD Transport in Graham, Wash., have been vaping for nearly three years. Both smoked into their early 20s but quit long ago. The two took up vaping in midlife following the experience of Cheryl's mother. She was a "three-and-a-half- pack smoker since she was 11," Cheryl says, and had to have her gall bladder removed, which left her in extreme pain every time she coughed. She had to give up smoking or risk a painful recovery. Cheryl tried an early "cigalike" version of e-cigarettes that remains available at convenience stores and elsewhere. Such devices, smaller variants that are similar to many larger personal vaporizers used more widely today, use a lithium-ion bat- tery. It's screwed into a small cartridge containing a fi lter medium for liquid and an internal "atomizer" activated to heat up quickly when the user draws air through the cartridge, vaporizing the liquid. Cigalikes look and act like a tra- ditional cigarette, and Cheryl urged her mother to try them instead of smoking to cut down the coughing. Cheryl says her mother quit smoking two months later and "hasn't touched a cigarette since." Before his fi rst daughter was born more than six years ago, Texas-based independent owner-operator Cody Blan- kenship says he smoked "a pack a day or so." He quit for a short time after her birth, but missed the activity and moved to mini cigars, or cigarillos, that he bought in packs containing fi ve or six. "I was smoking around two to three boxes a week. I never smoked in the truck, so it was mainly during downtime and on the weekends." Blankenship continued the habit through his daughter's fi rst few years, and after his second daughter was born, both complained of the smell radiating from him after he smoked a cigarillo. He also was aware of the habit's health drawbacks, so he tried vaping. He started with an "e-juice" contain- ing 24 milligrams of nicotine per liter, a typical high-strength dose among juices. Have you tried e-cigs/vaporizers? Current smokers Former smokers Those who've never smoked Yes 69% No 31% Yes 20% No 80% Yes 2% No 98% Overdrive's 2015 vaping survey, 1,062 respondents Among Overdrive readers who smoke, nearly seven in 10 have tried e-cigarettes. Todd Dills