The recent trend in the U.S. toward health consciousness has not escaped the tobacco industry, as evidenced by CVS's decision to ban the sale of tobacco products in its stores. Even smokers are doing their best to cut back on smoking or at least on the amount of carcinogens they ingest.

E-cigarettes have become the go-to smoking alternative to for smokers trying quit or lower their intake of hazardous chemicals. By releasing a flavored nicotine vapor via a battery-operated cartridge, fewer carcinogens are released into the lungs of the users when compared to traditional cigarettes.

However, the addictive ingredient in the cigarette — nicotine — still remains. Health experts have touted the potential of e-cigarettes to help cigarette smokers cut back on the habit, but simply replacing one smoking habit with another doesn't reduce the negative health effects completely.

Dr. Michael Siegel of Boston University's School of Public Health likens the replacement to that of using the pill methadone for as a replacement for heroin: The switch to e-cigarettes may be less harmful to the body, but cutting out smoking altogether is still the healthiest choice.

A recent study by research firm Kantar Media found that 6 million adults in the United States are e-cigarette users. In the same study, 35 percent of those adults believed that their health had improved since they began using e-cigarettes.

Despite these claims from users, health organizations like the American Heart Association have released studies citing the harmful long-term effects of tobacco use. In their policy statement, the AHA emphasized the 20 million tobacco-related deaths in the U.S. in the past 50 years. The AHA also called for stricter e-cigarette regulations across the board, including their inclusion in smoke-free laws, a ban on sale to minors and restrictions on advertising the devices directly to minors.

Recent research shows an increase in e-cigarette use by youth in particular: In 2013, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that more than a quarter-million youths who had never smoked before tried an e-cigarette that year.

Due to the lack of restrictions on sales, few indoor smoking regulations and the fruity flavor options of the cartridges, the youth population may view smoking e-cigarettes as harmless habit. Many of the youths who admitted to trying an e-cigarette said they would also be open to smoking a conventional cigarette in the future.

This declaration is worrisome to health organizations. Independent studies, including one by the New England Journal of Medicine, have reported that e-cigarettes serve as a "gateway drug." The research team behind the particular study has found previously that the use of nicotine enhances the effects of cocaine by activating a rewards gene that shuts off inhibition. Most cocaine users identified themselves as cigarette smokers in the study, which the researchers think is a direct result of the users' attempt to keep the rewards system satisfied.

The majority of smokers, 57 percent, who are trying to quit are opting for e-cigarettes. A recent editorial published in the British Journal of General Practice has reignited the health debate among experts. In the editorial, the author argued that the potential for e-cigarettes to save lives far outweighs any minimal health risks. But a contradictory editorial published in The Lancet points to the lack of evidence about the safeness of the devices.

Because e-cigarettes have only been on the market in the U.S. since 2006, it is still too early for experts to know the potential they have as smoking cessation devices. And unless health organizations can prove that their risks outweigh their benefits, e-cigarettes are likely to continue to grow in popularity.