410 Forum — Opinion
Electronic Cigarattes Offer Alternative
By Steve Dinnebeck
Marshal Peters has been a cigarette smoker since the age of 18 and decided to change to an electronic cigarette to continue his habit a month ago. Electronic cigarettes are the result of a combination of technology and a need for a safer delivery of nicotine into the lungs. Also known as e-cigarettes, they first appeared in China May 2004. Soon, like other products, they made they way to the United States through Internet sales.
I think this is one of the greatest products to be developed for the tobacco industry since filtered cigarettes. Each year smokers are continually singled out and taxed for their habit. A single pack in Colorado costs $4.50, and the price is expected to climb every year. This is what makes the e-cigarette so important. After the initial cost of approximately $150 – $200 it only costs $10 for the equivalent of a carton. A carton in Colorado now costs approximately $50.
The electronic cigarette is odorless, smokeless and Smoking Everywhere, a company that produces e-cigarettes, claims there are no harmful chemicals such as tar. When a person inhales through an e-cigarette, he activates a computer chip that turns a nicotine tablet into a vapor. The nicotine vapor then mixes with propylene glycol and enters the lungs.
Propylene glycol is a vapor used in theatrical fog. For affect the electronic cigarette’s end lights up to give the appearance of smoking each time a person inhales.
This breakthrough in technology is not only a healthy cigarette alternative, it also will allows people to begin smoking in public places once again. Since there is no law against electronic cigarettes, in theory, people can smoke in public places without being charged or harassed. I suggest you try to limit the places where you use an e-cigarette. One such place would be the airport. It may not be a cigarette, but according to Peters, it doesn’t matter. He has smoked his electronic cigarette in countless places.
Peters explained he received some very dirty looks at each place and was even threatened with dismissal from his job as a dishwasher. He told his boss what he was smoking and was left alone. However, he no longer smokes at his job if his general manager is working.
According to Peters, the airport personal did not care if it was illegal or not. He had decided to try smoking his e-cigarette while waiting for his delayed flight to board. Peters explained he was surrounded almost immediately and the personal demanded the cigarette. After an explanation and demands, Peters touched the end of the electronic cigarette to prove it wasn’t lit. They ordered him to put the e-cigarette away and left him alone. According to Denver International Airport guidelines, there is no smoking in the terminal, except in the four smoking lounges or outside.
Electronic cigarettes come in a wide variety. There are multiple flavors, include tobacco and fresh apple. The levels of nicotine also vary, which is helpful if you are trying to step down from smoking all together. The benefits of the e-cigarettes include the following:
• odor-free, so people are unaware of your smokers breath;
• no harmful chemicals
• price.
With the continual increase in the taxing of cigarettes, the government is trying to force people to quit. The government is trying to shift the curve, so to speak, so fewer people will begin or continue. That is why I believe the electronic cigarette will become a success in the industry. However, like everything else in our country, people are demanding regulation of e-cigarettes.
“We’re looking into it,” the FDA has responded to any inquires about electronic cigarettes.
The government itself cannot tax e-cigarettes because the FDA has not classified them as nicotine-based products. So, for the time being it is a safe and affordable alternative to the government’s quit or pay tactics on cigarette smokers.
The downside to e-cigarettes is that the delivery of nicotine is random -- strong or little with each inhalation. In the end, though, it is a much cheaper alternative to the normal cigarettes.
