[FONT="]The popularity of electronic cigarettes is on the rise here, there and everywhere: Analysts project the industry will be worth more than $1 billion this year, doubling the $500 million it generated in 2012.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Lancaster County is indicative of the trend. Shops here from Turkey Hill to Tobacco Palace have been selling the devices since 2007, but have seen a major upswing in sales of e-cigarettes within the past year or so, according to employees at Puff N' Stuff and Tobacco Palace.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The demand has been great enough that Raymond and Kerry Medina, 41, of Ephrata, opened the Vapor Cafe, a specialty store, in May.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Indeed, their ballooning popularity and reputation as healthier, more cost-effective versions of cigarettes has increasingly enticed countians to go electronic - but concerns over lack of regulation and research has experts nationwide questioning their safety.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Lancaster General Health smoking cessation counselor Mary Levasseur is glad for her patients who have founde-cigarettes helpful, but does not support using them as cessation tools.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"When they're considering e-cigarettes, we'll congratulate them on their intent to quit," Levasseur said. "I'm not pulling an e-cigarette out of anybody's mouth, but I'm going to point them to FDA-approved methods of quitting. There's not enough evidence or research to say, across the board, that e-cigarettes will work for everyone."[/FONT]
[FONT="]Because there hasn't been an industry-wide survey of substances found in e-liquid or its vapor, the major problem is that vapists, as e-cigarette users are called, can't know exactly what they're inhaling.[/FONT]
[FONT="]According to FDA spokesperson Jennifer Haliski, the FDA hasn't yet studied the effects of secondhand vapor and inhalation of e-liquid ingredients enough to "assess the potential public health benefits and risks" of mass production e-cigarettes.[/FONT]
[FONT="]E-cigarette proponents don't know exactly how bad or how good e-cigarettes are for them, but they believe it's better than the alternative.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"I don't think it's very healthy to inhale anything, but it's better to inhale this than it is all the chemicals you get from a cigarette," said Todd Zimmerman, 44, of Lititz, a customer at Vapor Cafe. "It's helping me get to where there shouldn't be anything. It's a process, and hopefully I complete it."[/FONT]
[FONT="]Still, some states, including Missouri and Washington, have banned the devices in public places, lumping them with their smoky cousins. Most states prohibit the sale of e-cigs to minors.[/FONT]
[FONT="]So what's all the fuss about?[/FONT]
[FONT="]Originally manufactured in China beginning in 2003, e-cigarettes are born from the idea of creating a better way to inhale nicotine, either to quit or to sustain a nicotine addiction without the many health effects of smoking.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Devices vary from units closely resembling regular cigarettes, such as the black, slim style by Blu and the cream-and-white NJOY, to larger ones that look like weighty pens, such as higher-end Provari or Smoktech tank models.[/FONT]
[FONT="]They work by using a battery and heating element to turn a solution containing flavoring, water and a few chemicals into vapor to mimic the act of smoking, called "
vaping."[/FONT]
[FONT="]Tim Efinger, 26, an employee at Tobacco Palace and an e-cigarette user, estimates that 90 percent of his e-cigarette customers use the devices as a smoking-cessation tool, while the other 10 percent use them for recreational purposes.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Nicotine is similar in its physiological effects to caffeine, but the addiction is much greater - some studies have found that it may be more addictive than morphine, amphetamine or ........[/FONT]
[FONT="]The real detriments of smoking come from the more than 600 other ingredients in most cigarettes, the most notable of which is tar, which builds up in the lungs. Burning a cigarette creates more than 4,800 compounds, 69 of which are known carcinogens, according to the American Lung Society.[/FONT]
[FONT="]In contrast, e-cigarette liquid or "juice" contains five to 10 ingredients. Sometimes called e-liquid, these generally contain water, nicotine and a mix of vegetable glycerin, propylene glycol and flavorings, in widely differing amounts.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Customers also choose the amount of nicotine in their e-liquid; solutions range from zero-nicotine solutions through 24 mg. The amount of nicotine that a vapist inhales per puff differs between brands, devices and e-liquids.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A common cigarette has between 13 and 23 mg of nicotine, but the amount of nicotine a smoker actually inhales per cigarette ranges from .5 to 2 mg.[/FONT]
[FONT="]If a user is interested in quitting, the goal is to work toward vaping zero-nicotine solutions to wean off the social and mental parts of the addiction and then to stop vaping altogether.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Much of vaping's attraction comes from many available e-liquids available. Users can choose to closely mimic smoking with a tobacco or menthol flavored liquid, or, like many of Medina's customers, himself included, they might vaporize Apple Jacks, Mountain Dew or mocha-flavored juice.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Adam and Rachel Larkin, 40, of Lancaster, who frequent the cafe, say the unusual flavors help them stay away from smoking; it separates vaping into a completely different activity.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Adam Larkin notes that e-cigarettes also make it easier to quit due to the act of vaping - they still allow a smoker to put something to their mouth, inhale and exhale.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Users' experience of vaping differs by type of e-cigarette.[/FONT]
[FONT="]For instance, while Blu users are limited to five "full-time" cartridge flavors, tobacco, menthol, cherry, vanilla and coffee, the White Rose Vaper's Club, a social e-liquid tasting club in central Pennsylvania, has aggregated nearly 300 different flavors from across the country. To easily vape the bottled flavors, a user needs a larger tank-model e-cigarette.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Kyle Dietrich, 26, of Lititz, said the Blu brand doesn't feel the same as smoking. Aaron Dickson, an employee at Tobacco Palace, says he owns an e-cigarette but doesn't use it often because it can't replace the real thing.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"You have to hit a point where you really, really want to quit," said Dickson, 32, of Manheim Township. "It's a lot different than a cigarette. You have to be dedicated."[/FONT]
[FONT="]One big benefit is that purchasing a high-end e-cigarette kit can save users up to $2,000 a year.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The kits typically cost $70 to $200. After the initial investment, monthly costs are just e-liquid or cartridge purchases and coil replacements, which vary depending on brand and quantity but amount to less than the $5 to $10 per day smokers spend on packs of cigarettes.[/FONT]
[FONT="]A five-pack of Blu cartridges starts at $12, and e-liquid bottles for the larger units typically cost $10 to $15.[/FONT]
[FONT="]E-cigarette users provide anecdotal evidence of health improvements.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"We're already feeling better, and our health issues are already disappearing, so how could it possibly be worse than smoking a cigarette?" said Rachel Larkin, noting that she and her husband have stopped getting sick with bronchitis, stopped coughing in the morning and their teeth have whitened.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Medinas laugh about the disgusting coughs and frequent sinus problems they used to endure.[/FONT]
[FONT="]The Larkins' son, Devon, also benefits.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"When my parents were smoking, some of my friends would say I smell like smoke. It was embarrassing," said Devon, 14. Since his parents began vaping, though, "nobody has said anything."[/FONT]
[FONT="]That's because there is no smoke. The vapor emitted, most say, smells good.[/FONT]
[FONT="]And those who've made the switch agree that smoking seems less desirable by the day.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Now if I have one person smoking around me I have to run away," said Dietrich.[/FONT]
[FONT="]Efinger says he can't go back to smoking, but there's been one downside to switching - he can smell when someone's forgotten their deodorant.[/FONT]
[FONT="]"Smoking is dead. Vaping is the future. The future is now," joked Dietrich, quoting Rip Trippers, a popular e-cigarette supporter on YouTube.[/FONT]
