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E-cigs: politically correct political incorrectness?

Wed, Oct 21, 2009 (5:07 p.m.)

Want to look like Don Draper without breaking the law? Meet Chinese export the electronic cigarette.

While the men and women of science often appear to spend the bulk of their time dreaming up novel ways to sink great sums of money into projects with limited utility for humanity at large, every so often they invent something that truly benefits us all. In 1952, the refreshment wizards at Kirsch Beverages figured out how to produce zero-calorie soda. In 1961, G.D. Searle & Company gave us the Pill. And in 2004, a Chinese company called Ruyan created electronic cigarettes.

Over the last year, these devices, which deliver nicotine to their users in the form of vapor instead of smoke, have grown increasingly prominent. In July, the Food and Drug Administration announced that it had concerns about the safety of these products, citing the “detectable levels of known carcinogens and toxic chemicals” it found when testing two popular brands. In September, California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill that would have made it illegal to sell electronic cigarettes there. Leo DiCaprio, Tom Petty and everyone’s favorite style icon, Kevin Federline, have all been photographed “vaping” in public.

Unlike other cigarette alternatives, e-cigarettes don’t just retain the nicotine of the original article, but also the prop value. Stick a patch on your arm, and no one’s going to mistake you for Don Draper, even if you spend all day inhaling with rueful circumspection. Stick a piece of gum in your mouth, and no one is going to mistake you for Betty Draper, even if you spend all day exhaling with wan discontent. With an electronic cigarette, you still get to rock all your best smoking moves like an air-guitar champ jamming on his phantom Fender.

Indeed, hands-on engagement isn’t just optional, it’s required—and even people wasting their lives in the pursuit of vice enjoy a little busy work and the responsibility of looking after their paraphernalia. The junkie has his works to fuss with. The chronic knitter has her needles. The vaper has a pleasure stick so complicated it could break in multiple ways.

From the Archives: Mildly NJoyable: A review of e-cigarettes (7/7/09)

For all its virtues, however, the e-cigarette is still the tobacco equivalent of a toupee. From across a room, or even from across a medium-sized table if the room is dark enough, it may be fairly convincing. But it’s still silly. That people are currently buying them so readily only proves just how effectively anti-smoking advocates have glamorized cigarettes in recent years.

Back in the days when you could smoke anywhere at any time, cigarettes were no more alluring than stale donuts and bad coffee. Harried, underachieving salesmen puffed on them furiously as they failed to meet their monthly quotas. Sad-sack accountants measured out their grim, monotonous days one butt at a time. Then, cigarettes were banished from the workplace to special outdoor holding pens. Overnight, that transformed them into human doggie biscuits, a reward at break-time, the thing to order one’s day around. When smoking was exiled from bars and restaurants, only the ultra-privileged could get away with smoking in these places, a fact that further transformed a filthy, largely pointless habit into an act of sexy defiance.

Now, New York City wants to follow the leads of San Francisco, Los Angeles and Chicago and ban smoking in parks. Some condo owners in Belmont, California, aren’t even allowed to smoke in their own homes. In such an environment, the rhetorical power of vaping is obvious. It’s an act of civil disobedience that isn’t actually illegal. You can blow cherry-scented vapor in the face of any self-appointed deputy of the nanny-state who insists you can’t smoke in public because you’re not actually smoking in public. Nor are you jeopardizing their well-being in any significant way. Vaping may just well be the first politically correct form of political incorrectness.

Still, a potential vaping epidemic is not without an enormous upside. As smoking declined, people needed something to do with their hands, and not everyone wanted to be a heroin addict or knit sweaters. Nature abhors a vacuum, however, and to fill the void in our lives, we took to texting and tweeting. Now look where we are. We spell “are you” RU. We apprehend the world in 140-character lifebites. Whatever trace amounts of diethylene glycol may lurk within the cartridges of your favorite e-cigarette, they can’t be any less healthy than spending hours each day trading quips about Balloon Boy with a handful of virtual strangers.

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6 Comments So Far

I was at the Bonnie Raitt show at HOB last month, in the GA floor. I stood next to a woman who wasn't thrilled to be there....but she also stood there a puffed and pulled and manipulated one of these e-cigs ALL night long. It was nearly as annoying as standing in smoke, which thank god HOB doesn't allow anymore. The thing never left her mouth the whole night and it just about drove me nuts. I have low tolerance for smokers and this was nearly as bad.

Posted by: memikeyounot on 10/21/09 at 6:11 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Really? In what way was it nearly as bad? I have vaped several different liquids and never has anyone, even non-smoking regulars at my restaurant described the EXTREMELY subtle scent of my "E-Liquids" as "nearly as bad" as a cigarette. In fact, after explaining the device, I have been met with positive reactions and queries regarding where the non-smokers might find an electronic cigarette, "personal vaporizer" for someone they care for. My current caramel-tobacco e-liquid leaves a very slightly sweet caramel scent in the air around me. Propylene Glycol, the key ingredient in most "e-liquids" is a powerful airborn anti-bacterial used in airoborne sanitation in hospitals.

What about e-cigs, exactly, has you bothered?

Posted by: RooksGambit on 10/22/09 at 1:35 a.m. (Suggest removal)

Electronic cigarettes are certainly a better alternative with many great benefits ranging from cost savings, to odor less, to no butts littering our country!

Some say that using electronic cigarettes can help you quit smoking. Currently there is no scientific evidence for or against it. One option is to gradually lower the level of nicotine in your cartridges to become nicotine and tobacco free.
The other option is to smoke electronic cigarettes with zero nicotine cartridges while applying nicotine patches. That way you separate addiction and habit.

http://www.ecigarettes365.com/forum/quit...

Posted by: KenZag on 10/22/09 at 2:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)

I am a former smoker I quit smoking 15 + yrs ago however my loving wife still smokes and has tried to quit many times over the last 15 + years. My wife found the E-CIG product 8 weeks ago and this product has now changed our lives for the better. Over the last 8 weeks my wife has managed to quit smoking and completely turn to vaping. This is absolutely amazing to me and I am so proud of her it completely just blows me away. For anyone that says this product is anything but one of the best things ever created I would have to say you really need to think about the benefits to others. I understand you might not be a supporter of the product because your against smoking but this is not smoking this is vaping and smokers deserve the right to have the opportunity to become smoke free. Smoking is an addiction and for those of you that don't smoke you have to realize people have a very hard time breaking the habit and if this product is going to allow people to drop the habit than kudos to the manufacture and kudos to all who stop smoking because of this fabulous product.

Posted by: jamesw on 10/22/09 at 7:46 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Wow, I actually think that women was me!! However I was thrilled to be there, I was not thrilled with the guy that spilled his beer on me 3 times! Was that you?

I did catch alot of attention vaping at the concert. I really didnt think I was annoying anyone. If my vape bothered you perhaps you were standing too close to me. Also , the pulling and manipulating you saw was me dripping my juice onto my cartidge. Yes vaping is more work then just lighting up a analog but health wise its worth it! I can now breath again and can taste again and I just feel better! This little thing has saved my life and I feel it is a miracle. I am now a supplier of e cigarettes here in Vegas and I feel good when i hear all the sucsess stories from my custemers. I am sure I am the women you are refering to because my e cigerette never leaves my lips, lol. I am sorry if that annoys you. But it is saving my life .

Posted by: serraangel9654 on 10/22/09 at 11:05 p.m. (Suggest removal)

Electronic cigarettes and personal vaporizers are definitely top notch in my book. I made the switch after smoking for more than a decade. The article is right too, I've saved thousands of dollars in my year now as an e-cig smoker. All the effects of smoking that damaged my body making me cough and unable to taste or breathe properly are gone but I bet I've saved even more money because I refilled my cartridges instead of purchasing new cartridges each time they've gone dry. I also purchased my starter kit for much less than the kit mentioned above. My supplier is fast, affordable and always answers any questions I have, I really recommend them and I've been a happy customer. Take a look at their site, freshsmoking[.]com . You'll be happy you made the switch too, at least your wallet will! lol.

Posted by: ChrisSugar on 10/23/09 at 6:48 a.m. (Suggest removal)