E-Cigarettes: What Do You Think?

[Surfin' Santa]

They don’t emit smoke, they don’t stink and they don’t make you cough. But some localities are subjecting them to the same restrictions as real tobacco cigarettes. What do you think? Should so-called "e-cigs” be regulated like tobacco?

And, BTW, isn’t it a misnomer to call these devices “electronic cigarettes” when they don’t contain any electronics? They simply use a battery-powered heating element to vaporize a liquid solution containing nicotine. They should more properly be called “electric cigarettes.”

 

[Mr. Laser Beam]

They don’t emit smoke, they don’t stink and they don’t make you cough. But some localities are subjecting them to the same restrictions as real tobacco cigarettes. What do you think? Should so-called "e-cigs” be regulated like tobacco?

They have nicotine, so I would say yes, they should.

These things aren't any safer *for the smoker* than regular cigarettes, are they?

 

[Captain Brylcream]

Not sure what I think of them, I smoke, and when I was looking to quit previously I thought of using them, and have a friend who swears by them. I dunno though, you're still inhaling a chemical straight into your lungs, it's got to be doing some sort of damage! It might be less damaging than smoking the old fashioned way, but there can't really be anyway to be certain what the effects of long term use with these things is.

I'll be sticking to my Marlboro Reds for the time being.....

 

[creek_chub]

Had a lady walk past me once in my store who was "smoking" one of these and out of the corner of my eye I thought she was smoking a real cigarette. Honestly, I found it rather rude that she was puffing away on this thing while shopping. It may not be a real cigarette, but I still don't want to have to walk in or around your vapor. And seriously? If you can't leave the nicotine alone for a 20 minute shopping trip, how do you function in your daily life?

 

[iBender]

Oh my gosh, I was smoking one of these the other day outside Victoria Station. - I was standing there just about to spark a Marlboro when a lady saw me, gave me one and explained what it was and gave me a flyer. - It's like sucking on Sheesha, and it tastes 'and feels' sort of like a battery.

 

[JarodRussell]

Why can't I get my nicotine in syringes or pills, just like any other proper drug addict?

 

[Captain Brylcream]

C'mon, you don't look half as cool with a syringe as you door with a coffin nail.

 

[Hound of UIster]

Why can't I get my nicotine in syringes or pills, just like any other proper drug addict?

These things are more futuristic.

 

[Dac]

I think their safer because the vapor only contains water, nicotine and the same stuff used in asthma inhalers. That's 3 active ingredients vs the hundreds of poisonous ones in a normal cigarette.

 

[Myasishchev]

I think their safer because the vapor only contains water, nicotine and the same stuff used in asthma inhalers. That's 3 active ingredients vs the hundreds of poisonous ones in a normal cigarette.

I need my polonium to fuel my atomic batteries.

 

[DeafPoet]

Hey, some of us like the taste of formaldehyde.

 

[Kestra]

I think their safer because the vapor only contains water, nicotine and the same stuff used in asthma inhalers. That's 3 active ingredients vs the hundreds of poisonous ones in a normal cigarette.

From the article:

The Food and Drug Administration has said its tests found the liquid in some electronic cigarettes contained toxins besides nicotine as well as carcinogens that occur naturally in tobacco. But nobody has studied what onlookers might be inhaling.

It's pretty vague, because "toxins" could refer to quite a number of things. But it looks like it's more than just three ingredients.

 

[NickInABox]

Hey, some of us like the taste of formaldehyde.

And asbestos.

 

[NickInABox]

Fuck I love asbestos.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

It's ridiculous to treat them the same as cigarettes unless they're demonstrated to have an effect on bystanders similar to the putative effects of "real" cigarettes. People who inhale nicotine know, for the most part, that it's bad for them and it's no one else's business that they continue to do it.

 

[Spot's Meow]

An "interesting" lady I used to work with would walk around the office puffing on one of these. She touted how awesome it was that there were no FDA regulations on them so she could do whatever she wanted with it, but in the same sentence would complain about how they made her tongue go numb. I thought, this cannot end well. She'll be one of those people you read about in a magazine whose tongue fell off or went black and is now suing the company that makes the product. And while reading it you think, why didn't she just stop using it?! She still loves the thing though.

As for banning them like regular cigarettes, that's a little extreme. But I do think that more studies need to be done to make sure they are safe.

 

[RJDiogenes]

They don’t emit smoke, they don’t stink and they don’t make you cough. But some localities are subjecting them to the same restrictions as real tobacco cigarettes. What do you think? Should so-called "e-cigs” be regulated like tobacco?

People can do pretty much whatever they like, as far as I'm concerned. The question is, are these things harmful or discomforting in any way to bystanders? If so, they should be subject to the same restrictions. If not, then no.

 

[JarodRussell]

The vapor contains nicotine, so yeah, it's the same principle: bystanders are affected.

 

[marillion]

As far as I'm concerned, if they don't stink up the joint or make me stink by being near someone using one, I'm ok with it..

 

[137th Gebirg]

I tried them for a time and they're not too bad. My biggest problem with them is their short battery life. Not really their fault, as battery technology doesn't seem to have really advanced terribly much in the past several decades, and it is a very small container to put a battery in to begin with. I gave up on them because I got tired of recharging them constantly. Improve battery performance and maybe I'll pick them up again.

Regulate them? Give the FDA one more reason to soak up additional tax payer dollars with no return? Does that question really need to be answered? Naaahhh...