Some tobacco shops are not what they seem from the outside appearance. The Misfortunate Creation Station off of seventh and Massachusetts St. sells beyond tobacco products such as glass pipes, incense, clothes, tapestry and dream catchers.
One employee Joy Sanderson, who has been working at Creation Station for nine month, works in the upstairs portion of the tobacco shop, where the store sells their tobacco products including glass pipes.
“Our pipes make the most money because they are the most expensive products we have.”
The tobacco shop sells a lot more than tobacco, and the glass blowing business has helped creation station sells their tobacco products.
“People walk into our store searching for a new tobacco pipe, but walk out with a carton of American Spirits and some incense.”
Creation Station has been open since 2001 and they have been selling glass pipes since the opening. The demographic that buys from the tobacco shop are usually between 20 years old and 40 years old Sanderson said.
One consumer that is a regular at Creation Station is Colby Dixon, who is a 27-year-old graduate student from St. Louis, Mo.
“I come to Creation Station a lot to buy more cigarettes because they have great prices compared to gas stations,” Dixon said. “This store also has great quality glass and I’ve bought all my glass pipes from here.”
Students that tried to quit smoking cigarettes usually started with nicotine gum or patches because they were cheaper than using medicine proscribed by a doctor. The University of Kansas senior Brett Burkhardt tried all the tricks, but still liked the act of smoking, but didn’t want the health risks of cigarettes.
Burkhardt started smoking electronic cigarettes about a year ago and hasn’t smoked cigarettes since. He said the electronic cigarette helped him quit.
“I tried the nicotine gum before, but it didn’t help me quit,” Burkhardt said. I found that I was addicted to not just the nicotine but also the act of smoking, the warm feeling of the smoke in my throat, and the social aspect. With e-cigs you get all of that without the harmful affects of cigarettes.”
People that enjoy smoking, but want to quit cigarettes can now smoke electronic cigarettes.
The electronic cigarette comes in two forms, a standard refillable e-cigarette and a modified e-cigarette or “mod,” said Rodney Hosch, employee at Aqueous Vapor Shop in Columbia, Mo.
“The standard refillable electronic cigarette is smaller than the modified one and it has preset voltage and resistance outputs, and a smaller battery but it’s obviously more manageable,” Hosch said. “The bigger one is a modified e-cig or “mod”. Most people that have these prefer to call them vaporizers cause “e-cig” don’t really do it justice. It has variable voltage, and resistance settings in increments of .1 volts. You can also change the total wattage.”
Burkhardt, an electronic cigarette consumer for a year, has both kinds of electronic cigarettes. He says he prefers the “mod” over the standard, but quit off the standard one.
“I like the “mod” because I can adjust the vapor output to simulate that warming feeling in my throat and that’s why a mod with variable voltage could be more helpful for some people because they can modify the taste to their liking,” Burkhardt said.
The smoke produced from the e-cig comes from a nicotine vapor called “e-juice.”
E-juice is a mixture of vegetable glycerin, pure glycerin, and nicotine. The nicotine levels vary from 30 mg/ml to 0 mg/ml. Concentrations higher than 45 mg/ml can be deadly, said Hosch, who quit smoking by smoking electronic cigarettes instead of buying a pack a day.
“Vegetable glycerin and pure glycerin are FDA approved safe for human consumption. Nicotine, absent tar and other carcinogens of cigarettes, is considered about as harmful as caffeine,” Hosch said.
The e-juice comes in different flavors from bubble-gum to blueberry-peppermint. Hosch smokes creamsicle and says he likes to switch the flavors up. The flavors have a level of potency, which creates a bigger nicotine buzz.
“Different “e juice” works better with different power types,” Hosch said. “Generally speaking the higher the voltage, the harsher the flavor. Higher voltage gives a bitter flavor. Lower resistance gives higher vapor output. With the variable model, users can get a more custom experience which may help them quit smoking.”
“Taste was never a factor for me but some people crave the taste,” Hosch added.
The electronic cigarette works by pouring the “e-juice” into the housing chamber called the clearomizer, which is the tank that holds the e-juice and the atomizer. The atomizer is the part that heats up to vaporize the liquid. It has to be replaced every 2-4 weeks, Hosch said.
“Think of the atomizer as the “lighter,” Hosch said. “Atomizer cost $1-3 to replace.”
From a consumer standpoint, smoking electronic cigarettes are financially healthier than tobacco products.
Burkhardt, being a college student without a job, needed to find a way to cut his budget. Burkhardt, who smoked almost a pack a day, said he went to “Vapor Up” in Kansas City, Kan., to start himself tobacco free. He saved a couple hundred dollars this year by not buying packs of cigarettes, Burkhardt said.
“A standard e-cig starter kit costs about $35 and the “mod” kit starts at $75. I think people are less willing to start with a “mod” given the cost, but I think it is more affective at helping quit cigarettes, Burkhardt said. “Also, I feel like people would try harder to make a $75 investment work.”
How does an electronic cigarette work?
By: Blair Sheade
Electronic cigarettes are becoming more popular. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 21 percent of traditional smokers have smoked an electronic cigarette. This graphic explains the layout of the electronic cigarette and how it works.
In the city of Boston, there are 250 public parks that smokers can smoke in, but not anymore. According to The Republican, the Boston city council approved a $250 fine to anyone who smokes in the public parks.
Man sets fire with cigarette
A fire in Des Moines, Iowa caused $40000 worth of damage, and the fire was caused by a man who lite up a cigarette inside. According to NBC Iowa, the man was wearing an oxygen mask while smoking that caused the fire.
Smoking ban reversal
In 2009, the state of Michigan banned smoking cigarette in restaurants and 20 feet outside restaurants. According to the Detroit Free Press, the Michigan-state legislation want to allow cigarette smoking on the sidewalks and patios of restaurants.
People can smoke electronic cigarette anywhere because they are not considered actually cigarettes. According to the New York Eater, the city of New York was attempting to ban electronic cigarettes in restaurants.
Illegal cigarettes
In the City of New York, the age requirement raised from 18 to 21 years old and the tax on cigarettes has increased. According to ABC News, a shipping company was selling millions of dollars in untaxed cigarettes.
College to ban E-cigs
The federal government hasn’t made up their mind about the regulation or the illegalization of electronic cigarettes. According to the Washington Bureau of the News Tribune, some colleges aren’t waiting for the feds to make up their decision.
After senior Arthur Andersen lost his job at Dillon’s grocery store he had to make some life changes. Andersen smoked almost a pack a day and was spending near six dollars a day. Since he wasn’t bringing in a paycheck every two weeks, Andersen had to cut his budget so that he can eat. Andersen decided that he must quit smoking to save money, and he thought this would be a perfect time to quit because he would graduate in may and doesn’t want to carry the habit onto his future job. Andersen started his binge of zero cigarettes as soon as he was fired, said Andersen, who was from Chicago, Il.
“I had to quit,” Andersen said. “I didn’t have any money to buy cigarettes anymore and it was an expensive way of life in the first place.”
Andersen’s cold turkey hiatus wasn’t easy and he still found himself buying packs of cigarettes. He wasn’t the first person to try to quit to fail right away. According to the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 59.6% of United States citizen were trying to quit tis year.
“Before when I was smoking, I was smoking cigarettes very time I was stressed out,” Andersen said. “I had to find a way to relieve my stress in other orders.”
Andersen went to his parent’s for help, because he knew his parent supported his attempt to quit smoking cigarettes.
“My mom and dad both smoke cigarettes, and they have tired to quit multiple times, but couldn’t,” Andersen said. “My parents told to try chewing nicotine gum, use the nicotine patch and use a stress ball to deal with my stress. I was trying everything.”
According to Scott McIntosh, PhD, associate professor of community and preventive medicine at the University of Rochester in New York and director of the Greater Rochester Area Tobacco Cessation Center, ex-smokers can gradually reduce the amount of nicotine or stop nicotine replacement therapy all at once after they’ve broken the habit of smoking. Even when used for long periods of time, nicotine replacement therapies are far safer than smoking. Quit rate range from 19% to 26%.
“On coming problem we see is people stopping too early and then experiencing cravings that they can’t resist,” McIntosh said.
Stacy Fitzgerald, a sophomore from Topeka, Kan., was part of the 19% to 26% of people who accomplished their goal of quitting smoking cigarettes. Fitzgerald, who started smoking when she was 16, used the nicotine patch to help fight her addiction, she said.
“The nicotine patch helped me quit for a while, but once I started taking my birth control, I couldn’t use the patch anymore,” Fitzgerald said. “I started using the nicotine gum instead.”
The nicotine in cigarettes has a strong effect on the psychology of a human. An area in the brain called the “pleasure center” stimulates when people smoke cigarettes, said University of Kansas Psychology professor David Holmes said. Nicotine increases a neurotransmitter, dopamine, that is responsible for feeling of pleasure, said Holmes. People using nicotine in other than cigarettes will help with the craving of cigarettes.
The nicotine gum allowed Fitzgerald to completely quit smoking cigarettes, and she had been smoke free for over seven months, she said.
Arthur Andersen wasn’t part of the 19% to 26% that was successful using nicotine replacement materials. Andersen tried the nicotine patch for several weeks and he still had cravings of smoking, he said.
“I would cheat a lot and I would smoke cigarettes when my friends had cigarettes, but I wasn’t happy doing that because that made me want to buy packs of cigarettes,” Andersen said.
Andersen’s family stepped into Arthur’s life and helped financially to assist Arthur from quitting. Andersen’s family took him to a doctor for nicotine withdrawal problems.
“My withdrawals were bad,” Andersen said.
The doctor gave Andersen a drug called Zyban. The drug worked and Andersen didn’t have intense withdrawals for the 12-week period he was taking the drug, Andersen said.
Andersen was off Zyban, but he hasn’t smoked a cigarette in three weeks. He doesn’t get cravings anymore, but when he does feel overwhelmed still when he sees friends smoking said Andersen.
“It was hard to stop smoking, I wish I would of never started,” Andersen said.
Transcript
According to the Center for Disease control and prevention, each year 69 percent of people that smoke want to quit, but how easy is it for college students. One University of Kansas sophomore Sean Christ had problems quitting at first, but found a healthy way to quit.
Christ: “I tried quitting when I was 18 after my senior prom in high school because I left like crap, and two month later I found myself smoking again when the summer started up. This time around I tried using gum and it is working fantastically.”
The gum Christ is talking about is nicotine gum, which lessens the urge to smoke when chewing and cost about twenty dollars at a local pharmacy.
Also, if the gum doesn’t work, nicotine patches are a way to help smokers quit, which are transparent patches that one can place anywhere on the skin and cost about fifteen dollars at a local pharmacy.
Gum and patches don’t always work for people.
A drug called Zybans have been prescribed to smoker that have tried the gum and patch already.
Senior Arthur Andersen had that problem.
Andersen: “I’ve been smoking now for a couple of years, and I’ve recently wanted to stop smoking because of health issues and because its financial expensive. I’ve tried to use the patch and nicotine gum, but that didn’t work that good and it is very expensive for a result that is not that successful. I went to my doctor and he prescribed me Zybans and ever since I’ve been taking that, that smoking cravings have been going away and it’s worked great so far.
Coming to a new university can be stressful for the 18-year-old students. Making new friends, trying to rush fraternities and sororities, adjusting their workload from high school to college are just a few of the stressful situations on campus.
University of Kansas freshman Max Calcatarra, from San Diego, Calif., has lived in Naismith Hall since August and was faced with early academic struggles once the school year started.
“I came into college not even thinking about school work and my grades showed,” Calcatarra said. “I failed a couple of my first test and times got really stressful for me.”
Freshman students can approach these aggravations differently-
one popular way to fight stress is smoking cigarettes.
The graphic posted above shows the percentage of 50-freshman at the University of Kansas who smoke, don’t smoke or quit due to stress.
Calcatarra resorted to cigarettes when he was having stressful school related problems. Calcatarra said as his academic performance got worse, he smoked more cigarettes to calm his nerves.
Calcatarra smoked his first cigarette when he was 16 years old. He took his first puff because his friend offered him a drag, but not because he was stressed.
“I was drinking at my friends party and someone asked if I wanted one (cigarette),” Calcatarra said. “I wanted to be cool and not turn down a cigarette in front of everyone smoking.”
In the latest survey by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 18.1 percent of high school students, who are defined by students in the grades nine through 12, smoked one or more cigarettes in the previous month.
According to the CDC, nearly 4,000 people younger than 18 years of age smoke their first cigarette, and an estimated 1,000 youth in that age group become new daily cigarette smokers.
Calcatarra was one of those kids that continued smoking cigarettes daily.
When he first attended the university, Calcatarra was smoking about a half a pack a day, he said. As the semester moved along, Calcatarra found himself smoking a whole pack.
“I’m at the library more now compared to the beginning of the year, and I smoke a lot more cigarettes when I’m at the library, because the library stresses me out with all the work I have to do for my classes,” Calcatarra said. “The more stress I built up in a given day, the more cigarettes I smoke.”
One CDC hotline employee said that youth smoking is increasing each year due to social aspects, but college students were more inclined to smoke due to heavy schedule and workloads. The CDC employee added that students tend to quit smoking after the students realize they can handle stress without smoking cigarettes.
That was the case for freshman Noelle Eldin from St. Paul, Minn., who smoked her first cigarette when she was 17 years old- but she kept smoke free until college.
“I smoked my first cigarette when I was dating this boy in high school that smoked, and he wanted me to smoke one with him,” Eldin said, who lives at Corbin Hall. “I didn’t like the taste, so I really didn’t smoke until college.”
Eldin’s roommates smoke cigarettes and they offer her one all the time according to Eldin.
“When my roommates would smoke cigs, it was tempting because I was stressed from school and needed a break,” Eldin said. “I started buying packs to contribute, but then I just quit because I hated how I was smelling.”
The cigarettes weren’t addictive to Eldin because she found another way to reduce stress.
“I drink a lot coffee and sit in the library instead of studying at my dorm, where I could be tempted to smoke,” Eldin said.
Higher academic achievement and aspirations protect students from smoking according to the CDC.
The CDC also reported that each year 400,000 young adults under 18 years old start smoking cigarettes on a daily basis, after smoking their first cigarette.
Freshman Katie Zurweller, from Hutchinson, Kan., isn’t one of those.
“I tried to smoke one night when I asked my friend how to smoke a cigarette,” said Zurweller, who lives at Hashinger Hall. “I hated it because I felt like I was smoking a cancer stick, and committing suicide.”
Zurweller handles stress with hardcore exercise, she said.
The Chicago Tribune compiled a story about a man in Chicago that saved a lot of money on a weekly basis, because he made the switch from tobacco cigarettes to electronic cigarettes.
Tobacco not popular among teens
More teens are smoking tobacco products, but their choice isn’t cigarettes. The USA Today found a study that shows teens prefer electronic cigarettes and hookah instead tobacco cigarettes.
Chain smoking toddler
An infant that gained popularity for smoking cigarettes when he was only two-years-old was forced to quit recently. Check out the health youngest smoker.
The tax on cigarettes increased in Massachusetts and forced people to illegally buy cigarettes. The USA Today has reported that, the illegal market caused the state lots of money on each pack that was sold untaxed.
Slim cigarettes attract young smokers
The looks of cigarettes have an impact on young adults smoking. A report by the UK cancer researchers is showing that slim cigarettes with white filters attract young smokers.
E-cigs are blooming business
Cigarette news usually involves health problems. According to the All Voices, the industries of electronic cigarettes are multibillion companies, but that is still behind the $90 billion industry. Check out the other comparisons between tobacco and electronic cigarettes.
The state of Maryland has increased its taxes on cigarettes, and according to the Baltimore Sun, the state of Maryland sold fewer cigarettes in 2012 than the past four years.
Higher age limit
The Mayor of New York Mark Bloomberg has 30 days to sign a bill that would increase the cigarette smoking age to 21. According to BBC, New York, the bill includes the age increase for electronic cigarettes too.
The Bloomberg report states sales are slow this year, and it is due to the hike of cigarette prices. The consumers for cigarette are decreasing each year.
Birthday for Camels
The American machine rolled cigarette reached its 100 years anniversary. Camel cigarettes were the popular brand of smokers, but the company experienced decrease in sales the Pittsburgh-Gazette reported.
Nicotine levels in e-cigarettes
Electronic cigarettes have unknown long term effects, but according to Valley News; e-cigarettes are nothing like tobacco cigarettes. E-cigarettes are nicotine delivery device.
Smoker's Health 