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Tobacco, Water Pipes and the Rise of E-cigs

Samuel D. Bates
Research Chair:
Dr. Jason Ford
Statistics in the dropping rate of tobacco sales are deceptive because
electronic cigarettes and hookah, also known as water pipe smoking
(WPS), are not included in the sample (McMillen, R., Maduka, J., &
Winickoff, J., 2012). This implies that tobacco sales are low, albeit a
high (and potentially growing) population is still dependent upon
nicotine (Mermelstein, 2014). This creates not a decrease in tobacco
sales, but rather a shift in who profits from nicotine sales. In order to
properly research the recent shift in the distribution of profits and
determining if the shift itself is beneficial to research, more studies need
to be aimed specifically at hookah. Hookah has much of the same health
risks associated with cigarettes. Some medical researchers believe it may
be worse than cigarettes (Mermelstein, R. J., 2014; Chan, A., & Murin,
S., 2011). The majority of studies done on hookah are done on college
campuses; this study will be no different. This is for convenience,
college campuses have a large pool of young adults that are relatively
easy to research. The methodologies used to reach other populations
such as forums or snow ball samples generally prove ineffective (Heinz,
A. J., Giedgowd, G. E., Crane, N. A., Veilleux, J. C., Conrad, M., Braun,
A. R., & Kassel, J. D., 2013). An understanding of the motives for WPS
as well as the social forces at work in a college campus are necessary for
understanding the decrease in cigarette use and the rise in hookah use.
The full paper may be read by clicking the link below:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/289385240/Smoking