E-Cigarettes And Quitting Smoking Unrelated: ‘Aggressive’ Advertising Helps Sell Liquid Nicotine Also Described By A ‘Poison In A Barrel,’ Industry Targets Youths

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BY Staff Reporter Mar 25, 2014 12:32 PM EDT

E-Cigarettes have been advertised to help with quitting smoking.

One e-cigarette user stated to CTV, "After two and a half weeks of using them, the smell of cigarettes actually bothers me now. And I used to love it."

Contrary to the advertisements, studies are actually showing that these claims are false.

According to Palm Beach Post, researchers tracked nearly 1,000 people over a year and found only 10 percent of e-cig users quit smoking over that time.

A report by WHP-TV states that, "E-cigarettes turn a liquid solution into a vapor, but some still contain nicotine ... But doctors say e-cigarettes are vastly less harmful than tobacco."

The Department of Medicine at UC San Francisco also noted that e-cigarettes are "aggressively promoted as smoking cessation aids" which is far from the truth.

Although e-cigarettes are less harmful than actual cigarettes, they don't necessarily help you with quitting smoking for good.

A research from the University of California, San Francisco found that not only did people continue to smoke, but that adolescents were more likely to pick up a real cigarette if they tried an e-cigarette.

The use of e-cigarettes among middle and high school students reportedly doubled between 2011 and 2012, from 3.1 percent to 6.5 percent.

The $2-billion business clearly targets young people and has made smoking socially acceptable again, especially through it various flavorings and colorings.

The New York Times reports that "e-liquids," the key ingredient in e-cigarettes are actually powerful neurotoxins.

Tiny amounts can reportedly cause vomiting and seizures and even be lethal whether they are ingested or absorbed through the skin.

E-cigarettes and their ingredients are reportedly not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration while nicotine gums and patches are, which raises the debate of whether other options of quitting smoking are safer.