The Concept Of Culture

The Concept of Culture The article "European Lawmakers Reject Tight Restrictions on E-cigarettes" by Andrew Higgins discusses the decision by European Parliament to abandon proposals by health officials that electronic cigarettes be regulated for medical use, supporting a hands-off approach to the sale and use of e-cigarettes. The European Union legislation did not address the issue of where smoking electric cigarettes can be allowed leaving that to national and local Jurisdictions. The Food and Drug

Administration in the United States wants to issue regulations on the cigarettes soon however it is being prolonged due to the government shut down. The use of e- cigarettes has risen drastically in Europe and the United States and some Wall Street analysts predict the sales of the e-cigarettes could exceed those of normal cigarettes within a decade. Some people hope that e-cigarettes will become more popular than regular cigarettes because it is believed that the electronic cigarettes are less harmful however their health effects are not fully understood.

E-cigarette companies were against the medical regulation and embraced the European Parliament vote as an accomplishment. There is still a debate if e-cigarettes actually for health benefits as well as if the vapor electronic cigarettes have negative effects like second hand smoke from a real cigarette. An ethnocentric view that stems from this article is that people in European countries are very big smokers.

It widely thought that many Europeans smoke and it is very common to see people in Europe smoking, even inside public places like stores and restaurants. Although smoking cigarettes is very common in the United States as well, most people know the risks of smoking and they are taught in schools everywhere in an attempt to try and prevent people from starting the addictive habit. Because of this, it would unusual for the U. S. government not get involved with the sale of e-cigarettes. The U.

S. wants to weigh the benefits of e-cigarettes and if the positives outweigh the negatives, they will loosen the rules on the devices. Stanton Glantz, director of the Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education at the University of California, San Francisco, says "We can''t allow e-cigarettes to establish themselves the way cigarettes have and then, five years from now when we''ve answered all the open scientific questions, we have to try to stuff the genie back in the bottle" (Higgins).

This seems like the logical approach to the controversy because if e-cigarettes start to get popular yet their effects aren''t as beneficial as it was originally thought, it will be difficult to stop people from smoking them. From an thnocentric point of view, this article depicts Europe as pro-smoking and it is strange that it seems like they are promoting the smoking of e-cigarettes. From a cultural relative point of view, if smoking has become a part of Europe''s culture, then it is understandable that they wouldn''t pass regulations on the electronic cigarettes.

In addition, it is thought that e-cigarettes could be beneficial in helping smokers quit and could potentially reduce smoking rates. Some scientists are hopeful about the advantages of e-cigarettes: "Their relative optimism stems from he fact that e-cigarettes help simulate the experience of smoking, which theoretically regulations on e-cigarettes, they could be helping smokers kick their smoking habits helping their health and wellbeing.

Although it seems unusual for European Parliament to have a hands-off approach on regulations of e-cigarettes, smoking may be thought of less negatively and more common in European countries because it is a part of their culture as well as by not regulating electronic cigarettes, they could be reducing smoking rates because of the benefits of e-cigarette smoking. The decision made by the European Parliament to not put medical regulation on e-cigarettes is a controversial topic.

As e-cigarettes are becoming increasingly more popular, the dismissal of the law has pleased e-cigarette companies however The FDA in the United States wants to control the sale of the devices. It is unclear of the effects that e-cigarettes may cause. It is believed that e-cigarettes are less dangerous than regular cigarettes and that they could even help people quit smoking. On the other hand, it is uncertain if they are that beneficial and some want to prevent rowing popularity before they know enough information on e-cigarettes in case they are not as helpful as was originally thought.

The use of electric cigarettes will most likely continue to become popular, however there will possibly be e-cigarette regulations in the U. S. until there is clear evidence that they have positive effects like helping smokes quit and reducing smoking rates. The use of electric cigarettes in Europe will most likely grow as well and it might even be possible to smoke them in public places.