There are many different opinions among LSU students about smoking.  
“It’s terrible,” said Nicholas Roussel, sophomore LSU student. “Smoking is simple. It’s harmful and causes cancer.”
 ”I feel like as long as it’s not disturbing everyone else’s enjoyment of the space, then it’s fine,” said Nawaf Awad, freshman LSU student.    
 A little over a year ago, LSU became a tobacco free campus.  Because of this, many students have taken up other smoking options such as vaping.
 ”Vaping is a term used when you use an e-cigarette or an electronic cigarette. It’s a battery operated device that delivers nicotine,” said Susan Bareis, Health Promotion Coordinator in the Student Health Center in the Department of Wellness and Health Promotion. ”It comes in a liquid the battery heats that liquid to an aerosol and then its inhales. A person exhales a cloud of vapor similar to a traditional cigarette.” 
 Most students think vaping is allowed on campus because they believe e-cigarettes do not contain tobacco. However, e-cigarettes are not FDA approved, said Judith Sylvester, associate professor in the Manship School of Mass Communication. Therefore the products are unregulated, and the amount of nicotine, tobacco and other chemicals used in e-cigarettes is undetermined.  
 Studies have shown that things like heavy metals and formaldehyde can be found in e-cigarettes and their vapor, Sylvester said.  Chemicals from windshield wiper fluid can even be found in the vapor, Bareis said. 
 ”So anyone who is smoking these cigarettes, they really don’t know what they’re smoking,” Sylvester said. 
 There has not been a lot of time to study e-cigarettes, and there is no conclusive evidence showing e-cigarettes are better for your health than cigarettes, said Bareis. 
 Even though the contents of e-cigarettes are undetermined, Louisiana law requires all post secondary institutions in the state of Louisiana to be smoke free.  Since e-cigarettes do produce a vapor cloud like that of cigarettes and the effects of second hand vapor is unknown, the LSU Tobacco Free Policy restricts their use on campus.  In addition, the policy restricts the use of cigarettes, cigars, pipes, water pipes, all smokeless tobacco and all non-FDA approved nicotine products.  
 At this point e-cigarettes are included in the restricted group until there is further research indicating that there is no harm from the vapors given off to the public, Bareis said.