E-Liquid as a poison?

[Malrynn]

If you mixed an 8ml container of e-liquid into someones, say... strong tasting soup or something, wouldn't that pretty much guarantee death of any grown person, unless immediate help came?

I'm just saying that that would be a pretty strong point for making e-cigarettes illegal.

 

[markab]

Hi Malrynn,
Putting 8oz worth of asprin into someones soup would probably kill them too but I doubt it would ever be banned because of it. Many of today's medicines can be misused. The trick is to use and store them responsibly.

Mark

 

[Malrynn]

The difference between aspirin and nicotine is that you only need about 40-60mg of nicotine to kill an adult, making it an efficient poison.

 

[markab]

Hi Malrynn,
Yes, nicotine is a highly toxic substance. The point I was making is simply because a substance can be used as an effective poison in small quantities is no reason to ban it. There are many readily available substances that can be used to effectively poison someone (yikes, things are getting morbid here .

The difference between aspirin and nicotine is that you only need about 40-60mg of nicotine to kill an adult, making it an efficient poison.

 

[TropicalBob]

It's not a reason to ban this product. I believe you can still buy an insecticide that is mostly nicotine. Nicotine is part of a plant's defense. Eat it and die.

The cartridges and e-liquid are more of a danger to children and pets. We ban magnets that children can swallow. Could a child swallow a cartridge? You judge. And small amounts of nicotine could kill a cat or dog. One user said his cat started licking his fingers after he'd gotten them in e-liquid. If the animal ate a cartridge, no telling how that might turn out.

Be most concerned about whether someone decides e-smoking devices are NRT (nicotine replacement therapy) items. If they're seen as that, they will need years of testing before they can be marketed in the U.S. And they have two extremely mighty enemies: Big Tobacco and Big Pharmaceutical. Right now, Big Pharm funds the anti-tobacco groups and is absolutely gloating on the idea of 46 million American cigarette smokers deciding to kick the habit -- by turning to Big Pharm's gums, patches, lozenges and inhalers.

E-smoking is better than any device Big Pharm offers. See the problem? It will steal their money. And since it contains no tobacco, Big Tobacco has everything to lose (one e-Liquid maker says it gets its nicotine from potatoes). I don't worry about any poison except that spewed by those who will oppose e-smoking because it will cost them revenue before too long.

 

[pammie]

Infants tylenol drops are just as effective as a poison and I do believe babies have died after parents have given the wrong dosage. It's extremely damaging to the liver and can cause death after overdosage to adults as well. We all have many poison's in our houseolds and e-liquid must be treated as such and properly stored out of reach of children and pets. We don't avoid buying tylenol, we just store it safely. Hopefully common sense will prevail and this argument won't become an issue.

Happy e-smokin....Pammie

 

[TropicalBob]

Pammie: I still agree with most of what I wrote a month ago. But in research for an article, I indeed found that the E-Liquid is an extremely potent poison. I use 24mg liquid, which means 24mg of nicotine per 1ml fluid. It takes 40-60mg to kill an adult. Using that figure, a child playing "doctor" could poison a playmate with less than a thimble-full. My wife now makes me lock up the liquids, and syringe. Good idea.

I still think the major roadblock to widespread usage of e-smoking devices will be their ultimate classification as nicotine-delivery devices, thus requiring full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Kiss them goodbye if that happens. But I would not be at all surprised if the liquids were declared "toxic" or "hazardous" substances and their import banned.