Local health experts fuming over e-cigarettes
BY DAVE MARCUS |
dave.marcus@newsday.com
9:39 PM EDT, March 27, 2009
Lindsay Lohan's dad has been hired on as a spokesman for a new type of cigarette billed by its makers as a "healthier option" to traditional smokes, the cigarette company said, but local health experts are worried about the idea of any product that encourages the use of nicotine.
The
tobacco-free product, called electronic cigarettes, are usually made of stainless steel and have a chamber that holds liquid nicotine. A battery runs the so-called e-cigarette, which produces a warm mist rather than smoke. Made by the Florida company Smoking Everywhere, they were developed in China.
A box of cigarettes and replacement nicotine chambers to last several weeks sells for $150 at the Roosevelt Field mall, which has Long Island's only Smoking Everywhere kiosk.
Michael Lohan, of Southampton, could not be reached for comment Friday.
While potential customers who took puffs Friday were intrigued, health officials fretted. "Considering that we spend a trillion dollars every year on health costs and much of that is smoking-related, I think anything that promotes or glamorizes smoking is a step backwards," said Maureen Crowley, director for preventive medicine for the Suffolk Health Department.
Crowley is concerned that minors will be attracted to the cigarettes because they come in flavors such as strawberry and chocolate. A bill introduced in the State Legislature would ban the sale of flavored cigarettes.
Workers at the kiosk said the cigarettes help people quit smoking. Patricia Folan, a nurse who directs the Center for
tobacco Control at North Shore-LIJ, said she recently talked to a woman who was using an e-cigarette to stop smoking, but "until its safety is determined, I cannot recommend it." The World Health Organization says it "knows of no evidentiary basis" that the cigarettes help people quit smoking, and an FDA spokeswoman said the agency is concerned about the addiction potential of such products.
Friday, shoppers Matt Dorato, 21, and Victor Micoretti, 20, of East Meadow, said they liked the flavor, though not as much as their usual Newports.
Their friend, Jesse Glazer, 20, rarely smokes, but said, "These are different. I could see smoking them regularly."
What page was it on, kinda curious 
