Goucher College Survey Says a Lot About Perceptions of Ecigs

Goucher College in Baltimore Maryland recently took a survey of faculty, staff and students to decide if electronic cigarettes should be included in their smoking ban. What the survey said tells a lot about the public perception of ecigs and vapers.

First off, I commend Goucher’s President Sanford J. Ungar for doing the survey rather than just taking it upon himself to ban ecigs. That shows good leadership and a true community spirit in the college. Democracy in action!

The survey received good response as well. 470 respondents broke down into 64 faculty, 97 staff and 309 students. The question they were asked was "Should the use of e-cigarettes be covered by the college smoking policy?" 

160 responded NO (12 Faculty, 23 staff, 125 students)  and 310 responded YES (52 Faculty, 74 Staff, 184 students), resulting in ecigarettes being included in their smoking policy. The really great thing about this survey though is that they actually published the comments people made and for me, that's very valuable insight into what people are thinking about ecigs.

The first thing that struck me is the Faculty numbers. 12 No and 52 yes. That's quite a large margin. I was not expecting that, thinking that college professors might be more educated or more inclined to learn the facts about something before voting to ban it. Since the comments don't specify which group the commenter belonged to, I can't decide which were made by faculty. It is interesting to see such a wide margin in the faculty though.

The student numbers were also interesting to me. 125 no and 184 yes. That's not a wide margin. Very interesting that the students split so closely on the issue. Perhaps they are not as anti smoking or know more about ecigs? Perhaps, as one would expect, students are more supportive of personal freedom and resistant to rules? I'm not sure since again, the comments do not specify as to which group the commenter belongs. Although there are a few I'm sure are students, at least I hope they are! It would be a shame for college faculty or staff to have such a poor grasp of language.

So, let's start with one that I'm sure is a student:

you're stupid if you smoke cigarettes. you're even stupider if you smoke e-cigarettes. if you're going to kill yourself softly, best to use the real one.

Now, I'll forgo pointing out the obvious lack of the english language that this person has and refrain from making a moral judgement call on wishing death on your fellow man and from calling them "stupider" for not knowing that ecigs don't kill you. I'll simply point out that this comment shows what the real attitudes are from many anti smokers. While they've always said they were anti second hand smoke and pro health, often times they are just anti smoker.

Some of the other blatantly uninformed and perhaps simply anti smoker comments were:

still same dirty habit

smoking is smoking

one is not being productive while fumbling with their e-cigarette! I would not want exposure to the "smoke-like" vapor! I can see why someone with a nicotine addiction would use these. Why anyone would START with these is beyond me. What will get marketed next?!?!?

modeling negative health behavior

it's called a ciggarette

cigarettes are unhealthy and gross even if they are electronic

because they're dumb.

all forms of smoking and nicotine ingestion should be banned

We should do whatever we can to discourage any kind of smoking!

We should not be encouraging our young people to smoke whether it be real cigarettes or e-cigarettes.

We should not enable this unhealthy habit. It is not just about the second hand smoke or other hazards. Our campus community should set an example of healthy habits and choices.

And of course many more. I'll stop here though because the last one struck me wrong. It's been 20 years since I went to college and I didn't attend this one, but I'd ask that person some questions about how the college sets a good example for healthy choices: "do you have coffee? Do you have any fast food of any kind on campus? Do you allow any drinking on campus at all? Does your health clinic pass out free condoms or other types of birth control?"

While on the surface this whole "we should encourage healthly habits" sounds good and I'd have to agree, once you get down to it supporting, and more importantly LEGISLATING 100% healthy habits is very difficult and a bit counter to what a free society stands for. As another commenter not so eloquently commented:

have.nt you taken enuff away from us.before you know it we won't be able to do anything any more.that is called communism.freedom where did it go.

And I do have to agree with that.

We should support healthy habits, but we have to balance that with personal freedom. The arguments for smoking bans has always been the freedom of others to be smoke free and not forced to be exposed to smoke. I have to support that. I can't imagine being on a plane full of smokers and to be honest, I really don't miss smoking in restaurants at all. Non smokers should have the right to be free of smoke, but if a smoker can get rid of the smoke factor, whose rights are they violating by using an ecig? Banning the use of a product because of "second hand smoke" that doesn't exist or to "encourage healthy habits" is a slippery slope indeed.

If we have to regulate potentially unhealthy habits and ban everything that might be bad for you, when will they come for the cheeseburgers, the fries, the televisions and the video games, the sodas, the power drinks, the candy bars, the coffee, and when is the school going to impose the "Minimum required 8 hours of sleep" rule?

Instead of banning things, shouldn't we encourage healthier habits for those that partake of unhealthy ones? For smokers we should be encouraging them to quit or at the least use non smoke alternatives if they continue to smoke.

As the one person said people are "not being productive while fumbling with their e-cigarette" but you are far less productive if you have to go outside every time you get a craving or end up in the hospital from diseases caused by smoke exposure. If there is no smell and no smoke, what's the problem with vaping indoors and keeping people more productive?

But there were many comments about the smell, which I found very interesting. In this day and age where men and women adorn themselves with all sorts of smelly products from perfume to deodorant to AXE and other body sprays and burn smelly candles or those horrid plug in electronic scent devices, I found the comments about the potential smell of ecigs quite interesting indeed.

because the smell of smoking can bother people with asthma or allergies and will provade through the buildngs and vehicles.

They still smell like tobacco

They stink just like regular cigarettes.

They still have chemicals and smoke that others do not want to inhale or smell. Please keep them out of buildings

they still emit a smoke, so most likely they will still smell like a cigarette and I choose not to smoke and I do not want to have to be forced to be in proximity to anyone who smokes whether it be a real cigarette or a fake one.

They smell right?

They probably still emit some sort of odor.

They probably still contain harmful secondhand smoke and smell bad.

do not want to be surrounded by any kind of smoke all of the time or have my hall or building smell like smoke

They have nicotine and smell like cigarettes.

People should not have to smell the smoke of others, espically asthmatics.

It will still smell like a cigarette, therefore it could cause other people to become physically ill or at the very least
uncomfortable.

If there is any odor what so ever they shouldn't be allowed.

This is a personal issue or me. I am very alergic to cigarette smoke and don't need simulated smoke to be spread throughout the campus.

Now, as someone who is alergic and becomes physically ill at the scent of many modern body sprays and noxious perfumes / air fresheners I have to ask all these people how they feel about that?Would they support a ban on all smelly things that might cause adverse health reactions in others? Would they ban perfume, hair spray, body sprays, air fresheners?

Besides, obviously none of these people have every seen an electronic cigarette or they would know they do not produce a smell anywhere near that of cigarettes or the average perfume or body spray. The amount of "mights, probablys, coulds and assumptions of a strong cigarette smell were disappointing to me. I'd hope people, particularly those in a place of higher learning would educate themselves more about things before voting to ban them due to a non existent smell.

But, just as I was to give up hope, commenter 184 came along to save the day and restore my faith that people can be intelligent and wish to be informed before giving advice.

Okay, my real answer is "I don't know, because you didn't provide enough information for me to answer this question." Here's what you didn't tell me: 1. Do these devices give off an unpleasant odor, such as do tobacco cigarettes, therefore making them unsuitable for use in shared public spaces?, and 2. Do these devices give off any sort of carcinogenic vapors, therefore making them unsuitable for use in shared public spaces? These would be the reasons for prohibiting tobacco cigarette usage. If the e-cigarettes don't do these things, there is no reason to prohibit their use. Could you perhaps send out a follow-up message and survey giving this information? I think it will make for a more reasoned reaction from the survey responders.

Now, not all the comments were against, of course. There were many people who commented in support of allowing ecig use.

It's not even real smoking--It's better than a cigarette! Why not allow it?

It's not smoking!

It should be allowed because the idea behind them is that they do not create any smoke or any obnoxious odors and therefore would not bother anyone who is a non-smoker or who just doesn't like the smell. If students are allowed to use them inside there dorm rooms, it would not cause any harm to anyone who lives with or near that person.

It is helpful in quitting smoking in some cases and the issue about attracting young kids doesn't really apply with college students since they're all legal.

They don't create the typical smoke that a cigarette does, and the vapor doesn't smell as bad as regular cigarettes. They also do not pose a fire safety threat since there is no match or lighter involved to light the cigarette.

They don't have the risks associated with conventional cigarettes for second hand smoke or fire harzards.

they were invented so people can smoke in planes, i think thye are smokeless and would not effect anyone around them. If the policy were to include them it would just make people angry and indignant. Also i don't think many college students are going to get them/use them regularly.

They have no smell and no harmful secondhand smoke. Should we penalize people who are trying to quit smoking?

And there are literally hundreds more. Go and read some of them, i'm sure you will find them as fascinating as I did.

The real issues that this survey points out is:

1. Smoking is a very emotional issue.
2. People often vote on things they know nothing about.
3. Most people are very uniformed / misinformed about electronic cigarettes
4. There stilll needs to be more research to address all the issues about "potential" this and "perhaps" that or the "we just don't knows" that come straight out of the anti smoking campaigns propaganda
5. The anti smoking propaganda has been very effective at modifying people's perceptions of all nicotine use and smokers in general

In the end it comes down to the fact we hold nicotine to a higher standard than we do other things that might be similarly unhealthy like caffeine, sugar or alcohol. So, when we talk of vaping, all the emotional responses and social conditioning about smoking comes into play and we get a lot of emotional talk about harmful chemicals, the smell, dangerous second hand smoke, potential health risks and the ever popular "won't someone save them" argument about protecting people from unhealthy behavior, and very little facts or science.

It's the smoke that kills. It's the smoke that smells. It's the smoke that endangers others. It's the smoke that forces smokers outside. It's all about the smoke. And so are many of these comments.

Even though Ecigs have no smoke, no smell, and even the FDA showed they contain far less harmful carcinogens than popular quit smoking products, some foods and even the drinking water in some places, our decades of conditioning still cause the same emotional reactions and canned responses when we hear "cigarette" and we think "smoke".

And on that note I'll end this with a comment by number 187 which sums up our different attitudes about protecting people from unhealthy activities perfectly.

example, everyone rages against smoking but not drinking alcohol when drinking alcohol actually impedes the mind, while smoking does not. A smoker has full mental capacity, a drinker does not. Yet smoking gets the bad rap because people seem to be more concerned with the body then the mind. It's
completely up to you guys, but, come on, cut smokers some slack.