Fired up over e-cigarettes Popularity of electronic cigarettes grows as alternative to tobacco smoke BY MELINDA TICHELAAR
Kenosha News
correspondent
The hottest new thing in cigarettes is something that doesnt heat up at all: electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes, e-cigs or personal vaporizers), which allow users to inhale a vaporized liquid nicotine solution instead of tobacco smoke.
A year and a half ago, Eric Oertle went from chain smoking several packs of cigarettes a day to smoking nothing at all by switching to vaping.
I went from being out of breath walking up a flight of stairs to power walking 40 miles a week, the 61-year-old Kenosha resident said. I feel great. My sense of smell is back, my sense of taste is back, and I am saving thousands of dollars a year.
Heres how e-cigarettes work: Inside a basic starter kit, users get an atomizer, rechargeable battery and cartridge, which screw together to form something that looks like a cigarette (but feels heavier). The cartridge contains an absorbent material soaked in liquid nicotine and flavoring. When a user draws on the end, the battery turns on automatically, the tip glows, and he or she inhales a
otine-laced vapor. E-cigarette dealers say the average cartridge can deliver about 100 to 150 puffs, just about what a smoker might get out of a pack of cigarettes.
The result is a nicotine buzz without that smokey scent in your hair, your house, or your car. Theyre also not covered by Wisconsins new indoor smoking ban, so technically you can still light up in a bar or at work.
Oertle and his wife, Pat, said theyve sold hundreds of e-cigarette kits at their store, Computer Adventure, 6201 22nd Ave. Eric also vapes inside the store, but theres no lingering scent.
Pat Oertle, 69, was one of those pack-a-day smokers who always planned to die with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. She resisted Erics fanatical interest in e-cigarettes for nearly a year, until she caught a horrible cold. She was so sick, she stopped smoking regular cigarettes for a week. When she got better, she started vaping.
I dont miss coughing, and now we dont have any more smoke damage to the inside of the house, she said. Her six grown kids are glad shes not ducking out of their houses any more for smoking breaks.
Safety concerns
General manager Tim Clark has been selling personal vaporizers at Racine Cigarette Outlet, 5108 Washington, and the 52nd Street Quick Shop, 3404 52nd St., since spring. He figures hes sold a couple hundred, with the disposable versions (running about $15 per box) more popular than the reuseable kind, which are $50 per kit.
Some people do try them, especially given the rising price of cigarettes, he said. But when most of my customers are looking around for something cheaper, theyre heading toward rolling their own.
As far as Wisconsins indoor smoking law, e-cigarettes are not covered. Dr. Mark Wegner, chronic disease medical director at the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, said at this point, there is no pending legislation to include them, although some workplaces could come up with specific restrictions targeting e-cigarettes.
However, just because theyre legal, he said, doesnt mean theyre safe.
Not a lot is known about their safety, but we do know they have cancer-causing agents within them. The dangerous things in a regular cigarette are the chemicals in the smoke particles, Wegner said. The same chemicals and carcinogens are in the vapor from an e-cigarette.
Wegner also does not recommend using personal vaporizers as a smoking cessation device when other methods like inhalers, patches and lozenges have been proven to be safe and effective.
Feeling the need?
But Eric Oertle said he tried those things, and they just didnt work for him.
I tried everything, Id wear three patches at a time, and Id still be smoking, he said. But with vaping, I found that as long as I had a charged battery, I didnt really feel the need to smoke.
Anti-tobacco activists also are worried that children might treat e-cigarettes as a gateway to regular cigarettes.
Theyre a novelty. They are marketed online, and they come in special flavors, Wegner pointed out. A kid could certainly think theyre cool.
Sellers like the Oertles and Clark said theyre vigilant about carding kids and making sure all e-cigarette buyers are legal.
Were not trying to recruit people into buying these things, said Eric Oertle. A photo ID is required. I am selling them because I thought, If this helped me, maybe it can help other people.
Kenosha News
correspondent
The hottest new thing in cigarettes is something that doesnt heat up at all: electronic cigarettes (also known as e-cigarettes, e-cigs or personal vaporizers), which allow users to inhale a vaporized liquid nicotine solution instead of tobacco smoke.
A year and a half ago, Eric Oertle went from chain smoking several packs of cigarettes a day to smoking nothing at all by switching to vaping.
I went from being out of breath walking up a flight of stairs to power walking 40 miles a week, the 61-year-old Kenosha resident said. I feel great. My sense of smell is back, my sense of taste is back, and I am saving thousands of dollars a year.
Heres how e-cigarettes work: Inside a basic starter kit, users get an atomizer, rechargeable battery and cartridge, which screw together to form something that looks like a cigarette (but feels heavier). The cartridge contains an absorbent material soaked in liquid nicotine and flavoring. When a user draws on the end, the battery turns on automatically, the tip glows, and he or she inhales a
otine-laced vapor. E-cigarette dealers say the average cartridge can deliver about 100 to 150 puffs, just about what a smoker might get out of a pack of cigarettes.
The result is a nicotine buzz without that smokey scent in your hair, your house, or your car. Theyre also not covered by Wisconsins new indoor smoking ban, so technically you can still light up in a bar or at work.
Oertle and his wife, Pat, said theyve sold hundreds of e-cigarette kits at their store, Computer Adventure, 6201 22nd Ave. Eric also vapes inside the store, but theres no lingering scent.
Pat Oertle, 69, was one of those pack-a-day smokers who always planned to die with a cigarette in one hand and a beer in the other. She resisted Erics fanatical interest in e-cigarettes for nearly a year, until she caught a horrible cold. She was so sick, she stopped smoking regular cigarettes for a week. When she got better, she started vaping.
I dont miss coughing, and now we dont have any more smoke damage to the inside of the house, she said. Her six grown kids are glad shes not ducking out of their houses any more for smoking breaks.
Safety concerns
General manager Tim Clark has been selling personal vaporizers at Racine Cigarette Outlet, 5108 Washington, and the 52nd Street Quick Shop, 3404 52nd St., since spring. He figures hes sold a couple hundred, with the disposable versions (running about $15 per box) more popular than the reuseable kind, which are $50 per kit.
Some people do try them, especially given the rising price of cigarettes, he said. But when most of my customers are looking around for something cheaper, theyre heading toward rolling their own.
As far as Wisconsins indoor smoking law, e-cigarettes are not covered. Dr. Mark Wegner, chronic disease medical director at the Wisconsin Division of Public Health, said at this point, there is no pending legislation to include them, although some workplaces could come up with specific restrictions targeting e-cigarettes.
However, just because theyre legal, he said, doesnt mean theyre safe.
Not a lot is known about their safety, but we do know they have cancer-causing agents within them. The dangerous things in a regular cigarette are the chemicals in the smoke particles, Wegner said. The same chemicals and carcinogens are in the vapor from an e-cigarette.
Wegner also does not recommend using personal vaporizers as a smoking cessation device when other methods like inhalers, patches and lozenges have been proven to be safe and effective.
Feeling the need?
But Eric Oertle said he tried those things, and they just didnt work for him.
I tried everything, Id wear three patches at a time, and Id still be smoking, he said. But with vaping, I found that as long as I had a charged battery, I didnt really feel the need to smoke.
Anti-tobacco activists also are worried that children might treat e-cigarettes as a gateway to regular cigarettes.
Theyre a novelty. They are marketed online, and they come in special flavors, Wegner pointed out. A kid could certainly think theyre cool.
Sellers like the Oertles and Clark said theyre vigilant about carding kids and making sure all e-cigarette buyers are legal.
Were not trying to recruit people into buying these things, said Eric Oertle. A photo ID is required. I am selling them because I thought, If this helped me, maybe it can help other people.
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(maybe this will work / work with me people)
