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No more smoking for Scott Riddle.

Now he vapes.

“Vaping” means he inhales the vapor from an electronic cigarette, a battery-powered device that typically looks like a cigarette, but delivers nicotine without the tobacco and smoke.

Electronic cigarettes, Riddle say, lets him enjoy the pleasures of smoking without its downsides.

But the U.S. Food and Drug Administrations says not so fast. The FDA warns that e-cigs are not safe, has seized some shipments, and is fighting in court to keep the e-cigarettes away from the public.

Following a nationwide crackdown on smoking in public, the dispute over e-cigarettes raises new questions about personal freedom, public health, addictive drugs and government regulation. It also begs the question: could this be the future of smoking?

The fix?

An electronic cigarette, or e-cigarette, is a small cylindrical device that looks like a cigarette or a pen. When users inhale from it, a heating element vaporizes the liquid in the mouthpiece cartridge, which contains nicotine and propylene glycol – a common chemical approved for use in foods, cosmetics, and smoke machines.

Users exhale a vapor that looks like smoke but without the cancer-causing tar and carbon monoxide.

E-cigarettes can have varying levels of nicotine, to match regular, light and ultralight cigarettes.

Riddle, a public safety dispatcher who lives in Schaumburg, was a pack-a-day smoker for 12 years before he tried an e-cigarette this June.

Riddle had tried a nicotine patch, and nicotine gum, which he called “disgusting,” but nothing simulated the habit of smoking like an e-cigarette.

The day he started using e-cigarettes was the last day he smoked an “analog” cigarette, as old-fashioned smokes are called.

“It replaces my need for a cigarette,” he said.

Now he can use it around friends, in their homes, and in bars or restaurants, because there’s not that smoky smell.

People in public, including bar and restaurant workers, ask him what it is, and when he explains it, he says they have no problem with it and often want to try it or see if it could help someone they know quit smoking.

Riddle says he feels much healthier.

“My lung capacity has increased tremendously,” he said. “I’m able to taste foods better now, and can smell better now.”

Some restaurant owners support the idea as well.

Hossein Jamali, owner of Meson Sabika tapas restaurant in Naperville, said he hasn’t seen the e-cigarettes, but would allow them as a way to help people quit smoking.

Since they don’t burn tobacco, don’t have the resulting smell and don’t need an ashtray, he said he didn’t anticipate a problem differentiating them from regular cigarettes.

Since last year, Illinois has banned smoking in public places, but it’s not obvious whether the language in the law applies to e-cigarettes:

“Smoking” is defined as “the carrying, smoking, burning, inhaling, or exhaling of any kind of lighted pipe, cigar, cigarette, hookah, weed, herbs, or any other lighted smoking equipment.”

The Illinois Department of Public Health regulates the ban, but spokeswoman Kelly Jakubek said the agency has not taken a position on whether it applies to e-cigarettes because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved them, so they are not a legal product to begin with.

FDA seizures

Nevertheless, numerous companies sell e-cigarettes on the Internet and at mall kiosks and truck stops.

A starter package runs about $50 for a charger with two electronic cigarettes and five cartridges. Each replaceable cartridge is comparable to three to five cigarettes.

Ray, whose day job is as an information technology analyst, has had two shipments from his manufacturer in China seized by the FDA. He says he’ll keep selling while awaiting a ruling in a court case challenging the FDA’s seizures.

A May 2009 evaluation of e-cigarettes by the FDA found that the two brands of e-cigarettes tested, Njoy and Smoking Everywhere , both released tobacco-generated cancer-causing chemicals and other impurities, including in one case very low levels of diethylene glycol, a toxic component of antifreeze.

E-cigs claiming to contain no nicotine were also found to contain very small amounts of nicotine.

E-cigarettes do not fall under the FDA’s new jurisdiction over smoking, because they don’t contain tobacco. But FDA spokeswoman Siobhan DeLAncey said the agency believes it should regulate e-cigarettes as a drug in a new product, just as it regulates other nicotine products like patches and nicotine inhalers, available only by prescription.

But approval of those other products required clinical studies showing they helped smokers quit, which e-cigarette makers say they are working on.

The agency also raised concerns that because the e-cigarettes are available in flavors like chocolate and mint – which it recently banned in regular cigarettes – they may increase nicotine addiction and tobacco use in young people.

Smoking is the single most preventable cause of death in the United States. The National Cancer Institute says tobacco smoke contains more than 60 carcinogens, and quitting smoking has major health benefits. It also notes that nicotine causes addiction comparable to that of heroin or cocaine.

Because of the threat smoking poses, some medical professionals believe that eliminating tobacco would be a giant step forward.

Dr. Kevin Sherrin, president of the American Association of Public Health Physicians – who is not compensated by e-cigarette makers – says conventional cigarettes are “much more hazardous” than e-cigarettes.

To get more smokers to use them instead of cigarettes, he proposes that e-cigarettes be immediately regulated as tobacco products.

The use of e-cigarettes, he argues, could help save 400,000 Americans who die each year from tobacco-related illness, as well as 48,000 people who die from secondhand smoke, and 700 people who die in fires caused by smoking.

The FDA’s DeLAncey says while levels of carcinogens may be far lower than from regular cigarettes, the long-term effect of using e-cigarettes is not known.

“Until they’re safe and effective for their intended purpose,” she said, “we can’t say they’re better for you than a cigarette.”

E-Cigarette Benefits

No More Tar!

While cigarettes emit about 4,000 identifiable chemicals as they are smoked and 69 are known to cause cancer, e-cigarettes contain less than 10 to 20 chemicals on average, depending on the brand or strength purchased.  No more tar blackening your lungs and no more carcinogens.

No More Ashes!

Since e-cigarettes do not burn anything, there are no ashes and no mess associated with them.  Have you ever dropped cigarette ashes on your carpet or on your clothing?  Have you ever fallen asleep with  one in your hand and burnt yourself or your favorite chair?  No more of this with e-cigarettes.  They do not burn and you can set them down anywhere you like.

No More Pressure!

Lighting a cigarette is almost like signing a contract: you have to finish the whole thing.  With e-cigarettes, there is no pressure to do anything!  A normal cigarette you cannot set down just anywhere, you need an ash tray or somewhere to put it out.  They do not have to be held constantly and you do not have to feel guilty about not finishing it. You won’t ever have to say “let me finish this cigarette” ever again.  Pick it up and put it down at will and without guilt.

No More Guilt!

With more and more people that quit smoking, more and more people hound those of us who do smoke to stop.  After purchasing the e-cigarette, you can finally tell your friends and family who have been badgering you for years that you have instantly become a non-smoker.  No more stinky clothes, hair, vehicles, or homes and you don’t have to worry about your family being exposed to the some 69 carcinogens that are in real cigarette smoke.  No more feeling guilty about exposing yourself and everyone you care about to a harmful habit.

Start saving – get a E-Cigarette Starter Kit today!

Smoke 51 E-Cigs Give Good Vapor

Smoke 51 electric cigarettes offers a departure from other electric cigarettes with its disposable combo atomizer and cartridge. As e-smokers often have problems with atomizers failing, the disposable option is a nice one. The cartridges are expected to equate two packs of traditional cigarettes each, which is a far cry from the 10-15 cigarettes other e-cig makers advertise.

The drawback on the disposable cartridges is that you’re limited in flavors to what they offer, rather than just purchasing whatever e-cig liquid you want. Smoke 51 has only 5 flavors, Tobacco, Menthol, Vanilla, Coffee, and Chocolate.

The best feature of the new Smoke Fifty One is the vapor. You draw an enormous amount of vapor from the E-cig, much more than I’ve seen in others. If it is more vapor you’re looking for in an electronic cig, Smoke 51 may be the one for you.

The starter kits start at $69.95. The basic kit includes:

1 x DUO™ Rechargeable Lithium Ion ‘Cigarette’ Battery

2 x All-in-One disposable Atomized Cartridge/Filters (Original / 6mg)

1 x USB Charger

1 x Club 51 Membership Card

1 x DUO™ Electronic Cigarette Instructional User Manual

Get a Smoke 51 Electric Cigarette Starter Kit Here:

Can Electronic Cigarettes Help Quit Smoking?

There isn’t an definitive answer to the question of whether e-cigs can help people quit smoking traditional cigarettes because there haven’t been any official studies. Browsing the Internet on e-cig information sites, you’ll find plenty of testimonials. You’ll find little counters displaying how much money people have saved and how many traditional cigarettes they’ve avoided with electric cigarettes.

But they’re still smoking, right? Well, not really.

Electric cigarettes contain no tobacco, tar, carcinogens, carbon monoxide or secondhand smoke. When puffed, e-cigs emit a vapor mist that resembles smoke. They do contain nicotine (the whole purpose) and propylene glycol, the substance used in fog machines.

Earlier this year, the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network, American Lung Association, American Heart Association, and Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids joined together for a press release demanding a New Jersey senator to call on the FDA to remove electric cigarettes from the market.

They argue that no studies have been done on electric cigarettes to determine if they are harmful or if they aid in quitting smoking. The FDA has said that both nicotine and propylene gylcol are safe for general use, though.

Because they don’t have tobacco in them, electric cigarettes would not fall under new anti-tobacco legislation signed by President Barack Obama on June 23.

Electric cigarettes can be used anywhere and are sold legally at kiosks and on web sites around the country, where smokers, nonsmokers and those wanting to quit are taking notice. Smokers who want to quit are finding smoking e-cigs helpful in reducing or eliminating traditional cigarettes all together, and non-smokers are happy that electronic cigarettes don’t smell. Seems to be a win-win, don’t you think?

Again, no official studies have been performed to say that electronic cigarettes can help quit smoking, but they are certainly an alternative to smoking. E-cig smokers, or vapers as they say, can generally choose their level of nicotine, or even opt for non-nicotine cartridges in a myriad of flavors. In most cases, e-cigs are about 50% to 75% cheaper than traditional cigarettes as well.

I came across this article today:

The Rise and Rise of Electric Cigarettes

One of the most controversial topics currently rumbling on and on is the future of electronic cigarettes. I don´t think it´s unreasonable to suggest that these ´smoking´ devices are polarising the population, or at least the part of the population that is aware of their existence.

The jostling arises because the electronic cigarette companies claim their product is much ´safer´ and ´healthier´ than a traditional cigarette, which if you take a moment to look through an e cigarette´s ingredients does appear to be the case. For a starter, there is no tobacco present, so immediately this sets itself apart from tobacco smoking.

Apparently during the burning of tobacco there are known to be 40 substances that are potentially cancerous and the distributers of electronic cigarettes claim that none of these are present in their product.

The passionate opposition to electronic cigarettes, at least to me, seems a little odd. I read recently that in the United Kingdom alone, one in five deaths during 2005 was smoking related!

Even if this statistic isn´t accurate, the major dangers of smoking tobacco cigarettes is commonly known, so when a product is launched that claims to be much safer and when common sense would say that if all these dangerous toxins have been removed, even if the electronic cigarette cannot be proved officially ´safe´, surely it does actually have to be ´safer´?

Of course these electronic cigarettes need to be tested and proved and of course it is only fair that they have to go through the same channels and procedures as any other new product but why it would receive such a hard ride when its potential (if proved) could change the face of the planet as we know it, is simply a mystery!

Try as I may, my cynical mind cannot help but think this mystery is a matter of money. Not just any old money either, but millions upon millions of it! The moment the headlines might read ´Electronic Cigarettes Declared Safe´, a mighty tornado is likely to rip through the offices of Mr Tobacco and friends, leaving a giant hole in their pockets!

Yes, it´s that BIG a deal! If electronic cigarettes are not safe or at least safer then let´s put them behind us quickly and start looking for the next thing that might be. Equally though, if e cigs do possess this world changing potential, then whoever is in charge, get your act together, get them tested, get them approved and market them vigorously like you once did with traditional cigarettes. Surely they deserve a chance?

Although I originally began writing about electronic cigarettes for professional reasons, I soon discovered that my personal interest would be great also. My father was a non smoker and died from passive smoking related, lung cancer. I became interested in the debate and its many complexities.

http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/view/105550