E-Cigarette Use at UT Tyler

There exists a general consensus that smoking cigarettes on a regular basis leads to long-term decline in one's health. According to the Center for Disease Control, smoking regularly increases the risk for coronary heart disease, lung cancer, cardiovascular disease, and it causes more than 480,000 deaths in the United States every year. A common response to these risks for smokers is to go cold turkey, use nicotine gum or patches, and other methods to ween off the harmful aspects of cigarettes. A more common approach as of late, however, is the use of e-cigarettes.

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are battery-powered devices that simulate tobacco smoking through the production of a vapor, similar to smoke from a cigarette or a cigar. It contains an atomizer, a heating element that vaporizes a liquid and creates the vapor. The liquid can be purchased at specialized stores, and it may or may not contain a mixture of nicotine. The use of the nicotine is to supplement the nicotine found in common cigarettes, while avoiding the main health risks carried in normal cigarette smoking.

There is currently a debate over the use of e-cigarettes, including the benefits and risks that come with their continued use, along with their use in public settings, such as in universities. Given that their use contains a risk of nicotine addiction, which is normal for those who previously smoked cigarettes. However, the possible nicotine addiction warrants government regulation, as seen with last month's announcement of new FDA regulations on the advertising and sale for their use. On a smaller scale, various organizations, schools, universities, and public buildings have began regulating their use as well. For example, Smith County announced that e-cigarette use is prohibited within and outside county facilities, such as court houses and government offices. Some universities in the United States, such as Northern Arizona University, bans their use within campus buildings, while other universities, such as UT Tyler, regulates their use in certain buildings and classrooms.


At UT Tyler, the use of e-cigarettes is regulated on a building-by-building basis. For example, the University Center bans their use within the building, as well as in adjacent buildings. Other buildings, such as the Business Building, allows their use at the discretion of the teacher/professor teaching a class. I personally have had only one professor tell me that I cannot use my e-cigarette in a class, but the others allow my continued use on the condition that it does not disturb the other students in the class. However, if a certain college within the university wanted to ban their use, it would affect the entire building in which they are housed.

This might change in the near future, as there is the discussion within the UT Tyler Administration to ban their use throughout the whole campus, much like other universities have mandated. This could easily occur as soon as the Fall of 2014, but that solely depends on if the administration believes their use within classrooms and other parts of campus buildings is a detriment to students and faculty. If you commonly use e-cigarettes at UT Tyler, be mindful that this change may come within the next few months.