Orange County Register: "E-cigs: Hazy future for smoking alternative?"

[ClippinWings]

Great article... well balanced, definitely not alarmist...

It's behind a paywall, here's the link

And some excerpts:

He tried everything for nearly 20 years. Nicotine patches, therapy, acupuncture, hypnosis.
Nothing helped Thomas Hanscome of San Juan Capistrano to stop smoking cigarettes until he discovered a new form of nicotine consumption that's fast become a trend in Orange County and throughout the country.

Electronic cigarettes vaporize flavored, liquid nicotine that gives users their fix without the tar and chemicals that come with tobacco. And there's no smoke involved. The battery-powered devices led Hanscome – a self-described pack-a-day smoker for decades – essentially to abandon a habit he said he always hated. He gradually weaned himself down to just a few milligrams of liquid nicotine each day and says the reason he continues isn't addiction. Rather, he simply enjoys it.

"Technology has come to the point where it will eliminate tobacco from people's lives if they want it eliminated," Hanscome said. "It's self-therapy."The discovery also led Hanscome, who is retired from the financial services and investment industry, to open a store in San Juan Capistrano that sells electronic cigarettes and accessories.

Open since May 18, Vaperie in the Marbella Plaza is among about a dozen stores in Orange County that have opened in the last few years, including in San Clemente, Lake Forest and Mission Viejo. E-Cig City, which opened on Pacific Coast Highway in Laguna Beach about three years ago, is believed to be the first e-cig store on the West Coast.

But the new form of nicotine consumption hasn't come without controversy. Research into the health effects is inconclusive and ongoing. The University of California recently announced a ban on all smoking and tobacco products that will be go into effect in January on all campuses, and it includes electronic cigarettes.

A bill that would classify e-cigarettes just like regular cigarettes is awaiting the state Assembly after being approved last month by the Senate. A police-led forum on new drug trends, held in Laguna Niguel last month, focused on e-cigs and their capacity to contain substances such as ..., the active ingredient in .......... The Capistrano Unified School District also recently revised its student disciplinary policies to include the devices under the tobacco products ban.

Richard Bracamonte, owner of Marbella Plaza, said he's hopeful the devices can help San Juan Capistrano smokers quit.He also sees e-cigs as a public alternative for smokers unable to light up because of state and local restrictions.

"If somebody smokes and they want to smoke someplace where smoking isn't allowed, you can use one of these," Bracamonte said. "This is a way they can smoke and not bother anybody. It makes a lot of sense."

But others aren't so sure. Just as the University of California plans to ban the devices, some city councils, including in Riverside County, have added e-cigarettes to ordinances that prohibit smoking in public. And some businesses won't allow it: Jason Wyatt said he tried using an e-cig at a lounge in Irvine but was asked to leave.

Hanscome said he's prepared for possible regulations: he obtained a state license to sell tobacco products in anticipation that it will soon be required of all e-cigarettes sellers. So far, no such requirement exists, according to the California State Board of Equalization.

But as the trend grows, Hanscome said more people seem to accept e-cigarettes. Or at least he hopes.

"I've had some strange looks in restaurants, but most of the wait staff knows what I'm doing," he said. "Bartenders especially."

 

[Vocalek]

The ANTZ like to include e-cigarettes in their smoking bans because they don't like how it looks. They're afraid it will interfere with their campaign for demonizing smokers (ooops...I meant to say "denormalizing smoking.") But it really is demonizing smokers if you stop to think about it. If a smoker saw an e-cigarette user avoiding being shunned, s/he might get the idea to take up the use of e-cigarettes instead of smoking. "We can't have that. We want smokers to continue smoking because if they stop, we'd have to stop torturing them. Takes away all our fun."