Vapor War
Our irrational hostility toward electronic cigarettes.
By William Saletan
Posted Wednesday, June 3, 2009, at 10:44 AM ET
The irrational war on electronic cigarettes. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine
The Smoking Everywhere E-Cigarette First there was smoked tobacco. Then there was smokeless tobacco. Now there's something in between.
vaporized nicotine, aka "vaping." It isn't quite tobacco, and it isn't quite smoking. Should we ban it, since it's sort of like smoking? Or should we tolerate it, since it's different in important respects? Does the war on smoking require total victory, or can we accept a peace deal that lets the industry, in some form, escape?
Let's start with a bit of background. Vaporized nicotine has been around in various forms for at least two decades. Lately, it's been spreading across the world in the form of "electronic cigarettes." Two months ago, Slate's Emily Yoffe tried them out and reported:
The e-cigarette contains no tobacco and produces no smoke. Instead, it is an ingenious electronic device. The "filter" is a receptacle for nicotine suspended in propylene glycolthe main ingredient in deodorant sticks and artificial smoke machines. When the user sucks on the filter, a nicotine-laced vapor is produced, satisfying a smoker's cravings. [One product] allows you to choose filter cartridges with different levels of nicotine. I selected "none," which meant my e-cig was the buzz-free equivalent of nonalcoholic beer. The cigarette came in flavors such as tobacco, vanilla, mint, and apple. Fortunately, as bad as the mist tasted, there was no noticeable odor, and it dissipated almost immediately, and thus didn't create a secondhand vapor problem.
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal and New York Times followed up with similar reports. "The vapor can be inhaled and then exhaled, creating a cloud that resembles cigarette smoke but dissipates more quickly and doesn't have the lingering odor," says the Journal. The Times described an e-cigarette that "delivered an odorless dose of nicotine and flavoring without cigarette tar or additives, and produced a vapor mist nearly identical in appearance to tobacco smoke."
So is vaping smoking? Let's run the checklist. Cigarette? Yes. Smoke? No. Cloud? Yes. Odor? No. Tar? No. Nicotine? Optional.
Good luck sorting this one out.
The first practical question is whether you can vape in places where smoking is now forbidden. Yoffe tried this and got a mixture of technical tolerance and social disapproval. The Journal adds:
Users have had varied experiences vaping in public, ranging from indifference to odd glances. On a recent day, Shai Shloush, 25, from Knoxville, Tenn., huddled in the back of a movie theater to watch the new Star Trek movie. He powered up his e-cigarette and puffed away. "I was covering the LED part so people wouldn't notice," said Mr. Shloush, a former smoker. "Every once in a while I'd be really sneaky about letting out the smoke."
The Times claims that "because they produce no smoke, they can be used in workplaces, restaurants and airports." One user, for example, reports that "when everyone was smoking outside in the cold, I just stood in the warm bar, smoking."
Our irrational hostility toward electronic cigarettes.
By William Saletan
Posted Wednesday, June 3, 2009, at 10:44 AM ET
The irrational war on electronic cigarettes. - By William Saletan - Slate Magazine
The Smoking Everywhere E-Cigarette First there was smoked tobacco. Then there was smokeless tobacco. Now there's something in between.
vaporized nicotine, aka "vaping." It isn't quite tobacco, and it isn't quite smoking. Should we ban it, since it's sort of like smoking? Or should we tolerate it, since it's different in important respects? Does the war on smoking require total victory, or can we accept a peace deal that lets the industry, in some form, escape?
Let's start with a bit of background. Vaporized nicotine has been around in various forms for at least two decades. Lately, it's been spreading across the world in the form of "electronic cigarettes." Two months ago, Slate's Emily Yoffe tried them out and reported:
The e-cigarette contains no tobacco and produces no smoke. Instead, it is an ingenious electronic device. The "filter" is a receptacle for nicotine suspended in propylene glycolthe main ingredient in deodorant sticks and artificial smoke machines. When the user sucks on the filter, a nicotine-laced vapor is produced, satisfying a smoker's cravings. [One product] allows you to choose filter cartridges with different levels of nicotine. I selected "none," which meant my e-cig was the buzz-free equivalent of nonalcoholic beer. The cigarette came in flavors such as tobacco, vanilla, mint, and apple. Fortunately, as bad as the mist tasted, there was no noticeable odor, and it dissipated almost immediately, and thus didn't create a secondhand vapor problem.
Yesterday's Wall Street Journal and New York Times followed up with similar reports. "The vapor can be inhaled and then exhaled, creating a cloud that resembles cigarette smoke but dissipates more quickly and doesn't have the lingering odor," says the Journal. The Times described an e-cigarette that "delivered an odorless dose of nicotine and flavoring without cigarette tar or additives, and produced a vapor mist nearly identical in appearance to tobacco smoke."
So is vaping smoking? Let's run the checklist. Cigarette? Yes. Smoke? No. Cloud? Yes. Odor? No. Tar? No. Nicotine? Optional.
Good luck sorting this one out.
The first practical question is whether you can vape in places where smoking is now forbidden. Yoffe tried this and got a mixture of technical tolerance and social disapproval. The Journal adds:
Users have had varied experiences vaping in public, ranging from indifference to odd glances. On a recent day, Shai Shloush, 25, from Knoxville, Tenn., huddled in the back of a movie theater to watch the new Star Trek movie. He powered up his e-cigarette and puffed away. "I was covering the LED part so people wouldn't notice," said Mr. Shloush, a former smoker. "Every once in a while I'd be really sneaky about letting out the smoke."
The Times claims that "because they produce no smoke, they can be used in workplaces, restaurants and airports." One user, for example, reports that "when everyone was smoking outside in the cold, I just stood in the warm bar, smoking."
