E-Cigarettes Bring Smokers Back Inside, For Now

Good luck keeping people from using them anywhere. They don't smell, so non-smokers aren't going to complain (I've been using e-cigs at work for two years and never received any complaints, in fact one person who sits five feet from me wasn't aware that I did it). The only people who've ever asked me to stop using them in restaurants and bars are staff (and only two instances in two years of regularly going out with e-cigs), and they're only doing it because they're afraid of getting into trouble with whatever regulators might crack down on them.<p>Electronic cigarettes should be left the hell alone. I've never seen a more successful smoking cessation tool. Trying to heavy-handedly 'regulate' them so they aren't as easy or affordable to use will only ensure that people keep smoking regular cigarettes. Of course, the more paranoid side of my brain reminds me that a lot of tax revenue comes from old fashioned cigarette sales, and perhaps governments will want to protect those revenues.

E-Cigarettes are are excellent litmus test for the prohibitionist brigade - it shows clearly that it's not about safety or health, it's about control and some misguided puritan ideal.

"Local governments are already taking steps to limit e-smoking in places where traditional smoking is banned"<p>For no health reason, but for governments to demonstrate their power and how they are doing something - a bit like the pre-flight security theater.<p>The fact that we have a technological replacement better than the original (ie no tars or carcinogens) while giving the sample pleasure (nicotine, inhaling) should be ground enough to change the laws in the other direction - ie allowing e-cigarattes wherever they are possible..<p>But this is not about logic. The new habitus sees tobacco as low class and bad <a href="http://www.powercube.net/other-forms-of-power/bourdieu-and-habitus/" rel="nofollow">http://www.powercube.net/other-forms-of-power/bourdieu-and-h...</a><p>Why I am not surprised the government will fight against it, regardless of the scientific facts or the right to pursue happiness?<p>EDIT: From the original article "The FDA has said that it plans to assert regulatory authority over electronic cigarettes" - just like every government agency looking for a piece of the cake, while consumers will suffer.<p>There is another good article on e-cigarettes on <a href="http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573986-world-should-welcome-electronic-cigarette-no-smoke-why-fire" rel="nofollow">http://www.economist.com/news/leaders/21573986-world-should-...</a><p>"Smoking tobacco is the most dangerous voluntary activity in the world. More than 5m people die every year of the consequences. That is one death in ten."<p>Want to save human lives? Don't regulate e-cigarettes- in fact, it might be a better idea to GIVE THEM AWAY in poor countries instead of spending the same amount to procure them with expansive drugs that may help at best a hundred people per year (cancer drugs are expansive, and except in specific cases their efficiency is limited. we still have a lot to learn).<p>Since people will consume tobacco products anyway, we might as well give them the good stuff that won't give them cancer, our last technology - that's e-cigarettes, instead of exporting the old foul smelling plant.<p>We are talking about the potential to save 5'000'000 humans <i>every year</i>.<p>It <i>should</i> be about <i>helping</i> people, not just subsidizing the agricultural industry or making <i>feel good</i> but ultimately counter-productive actions.<p>But reason won't prevail. It will be a sad thing to watch.<p>EDIT2: I originally said "it is about", which is an incorrect formulation since it could be interpreted as a statement on how current systems work. It was ironic, and may not have been very clear.

I quit smoking 1.5 packs a day about 120 days ago, and started out with 36mg nicotine/ml e-liquid, and have cut down to 6mg/ml e-liquid. In another month, I should be off nicotine completely.<p>I use a eGo Twist/iClear16 (w/ iClear30 heads) at work, and CCTS/IGO-L at home. The variety of flavors are endless, and none smell up the office, my home, hands, or clothes. Even if they did stink as bad as regular smokes, who would really complain about smelling Watermelon, Pear &#38; Honey, Ecto Cooler (yes!) or Swedish Fish when they come to visit me?<p>After switching, I don't: 1. Smell like an ashtray 2. Lose my breath walking up a few sets of stairs 3. Take several 15 minute breaks at work 4. Spend $300(!) per month 5. Have fears of emphysema and/or lung cancer in my future.<p>My doctor is happy with the results. So am I.

The rush of moral righteousness and overall feeling of superiority that non-smokers must get when they are agitating are obvious very addictive and I think that should be regulated.<p>It's amazing how far the brainwashing have gone in regards to anything remotely smoking related. Otherwise sensible and thinking people throw out all sense of consideration, respect and balance and start repeating "Smoking is bad, smoking should be banned", no matter what the consequences are.<p>And when we are talking about e-cig it is very clear to me that none of the objections are about health or genuine care for those affected, at all. At best, the supporting arguments for that are severe exaggerations - which should be obvious with minimum of critical thinking.

As an asthmatic, e-cigarettes induce my asthma just as well as normal cigarettes, it only takes a longer time to have the same quantitative effect. I do hope they get regulated, and soon, because this is seriously going to hamper my ability to enjoy social activities.<p>The lack of odor is actually problematic. I was not able to quit a place before the inset of an asthmatic attack in a couple of restaurants because I didn't smell anything until it was too late.<p>I'm actually used to that (several substances do the same), but it's only in the last year or so that I increasingly attributed that to e-cigarettes because people feel "it's ok".<p>Even if I wasn't asthmatic, I would still be pissed as hell to be sniffing nicotine just for the addiction of somebody else. It's not a drug powder that you can contain and keep it to yourself.

I'm as anti-smoking as they come, and it enrages me that Greece is stuck in the middle ages in that regard. People smoke everywhere, inside and out, and you can't go to a bar without inhaling loads of smoke. I would like nothing better than to see smoke-free indoors environments, but smokers here have a huge sense of entitlement, their mindset being "if it bothers you, go somewhere else".<p>All that said, there's no reason to ban e-cigarettes. They don't smell, they don't make my eyes/throat hurt, they aren't obtrusive in any way, unless you're trying to inhale the other person's smoke as it comes out of their nose. As long as it doesn't bother other people, it shouldn't be banned, and e-cigarettes don't bother other people.

Love love love my e-cig. No one has a clue in the office.<p>I quit smoking quite a while back, but I still had cheaters from time to time. I really think nicotine has a much more permanent effect on the brain than we are led to believe.<p>If you don't smoke, don't go near the stuff, but if you do, you really should try it.

For what it's worth they now make smokeless hookah. It's basically stones that are pressure injected with flavored vegetable oil, and they're free of tobacco and nicotine.<p><a href="https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&#38;hl=en&#38;q=smoking+stones+hookah&#38;revid=1520962025&#38;sa=X&#38;ei=Lo58UfCXG4no0wHiyIDwCw&#38;ved=0CG8Q1QIoAQ&#38;biw=480&#38;bih=268" rel="nofollow">https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&#38;hl=en&#38;q=...</a><p>I've never tried them, though there are a few different brands you can find on Amazon, some of which actually have pretty good reviews.

They're an interesting one in terms of 'should you use them around non-smokers', as there's no statistics on exhaled contents of nicotine (that I've seen) so it's quite difficult to make a call in terms of second hand health risk. First hand health risk? It's your body so do what you want.<p>There's other issues, do they smell? Yes, some do, they have flavourings in that will impart a smell. However it's quite faint in a lot of cases, it bothers my girlfriend in the car but not at home. Is it anti-social? Depends on the social group you're in, I generally hang around with smokers (maybe there's some selection bias inherent in social groupings due to the smoking ban) and a couple of us have shifted to e-cigarettes (traditional style and vape style) and no one minds. I wouldn't use one in a restaurant but I would in a pub or nightclub.<p>Hopefully they'll avoid regulating them for a while, but there's rumblings of regulation on the horizon in the EU.

These things were a godsend to me quitting BUT they do need to be studied to find out if they also have long term harms.

&#62;The FDA warns that more research needs to be done on the health risks of inhaling liquid nicotine.<p>&#62; "The FDA has said that it plans to assert regulatory authority over electronic cigarettes. And that could lead to them being regulated in the same way as cigarettes as far as marketing is concerned," Felberbaum says.<p>This is odd. For one, we know the health risks of nicotine patches, and we know the health risks of the <i>alternative</i> to e-cigarettes, which carries very large known risks. For that reason alone we should celebrate these little devices.<p>Further, what the hell is the FDA doing? I thought this would be for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF).<p>Edit, some dates:<p>Since 2009 the FDA has had the authority to explicitly regulate tobacco too, not just nicotine: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_tobacco_by_the_U.S._Food_and_Drug_Administration" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regulation_of_tobacco_by_the_U....</a><p>Since 1998 the FDA has been allowed to regulate cigarettes as nicotine delivery devices: <a href="http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8846773/Szubin.html?sequence=2" rel="nofollow">http://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/8846773/Szubin.ht...</a>

These electronic cigarettes are pretty cool, nicotine without all the other downsides. There's no point in banning <i>that</i>.<p>Could this be used for ganja too?

I cannot believe how many people still buy cigarettes and smoke though. Stand and watch at your local drugstore how many people come in within 15 minutes to buy cigarettes.<p>If they are addicted then the industry failed at helping them quit and the government needs to force the industry to provide direct free assistance to quit. It's not a game where they should be able to keep making profit off known death.

Do they stink like regular cigarettes? The horrible stench of regular cigarettes is worse than any possible carcinogens to me, ugh!

Wow, I miss smoking, maybe this is how to get that clear lucid feeling back but without the health risks. I know it would be regulated, the government needs to make its two cents too. Right?

What I don't understand is how are they allowed to put ads on TV?

I want to see the excuse for banning these from being used indoors. It'll probably be along the lines of "children will be influenced or something". Gotta love the nanny state - not!