Smokeless Cigarettes Hide Behind Smoke Screen

Cigarette smoking is one of the most prevalent, dangerous, and addictive vices in the world. Since smokers know this, they are usually desperate to find a way to cut back, and eventually quit. A new smokeless electronic cigarette is promising to do just that, which should elate the medical establishment. Instead, they are up in arms against the unregulated and untested "e-cigarette," warning a populous of smokers to be wary of what they don't know.

Electronic cigarettes have recently invaded mall kiosks all over the country, and smokers are buying them in droves. For $100-150, they are promised a way to cut back on their current smoking habit, while still getting the satisfying hit of nicotine they are looking for. As an added bonus, the e-cigarette produces no actual smoke, and so is permitted to by used in any public place.

The e-cigarette itself is composed of a battery-powered "cigarette" that comes with replaceable cartridges with or without nicotine. The cartridges also contain a flavoring, as well as propylene glycol, which is what produces the faux smoke. It is specifically this additive, which is also used in antifreeze, that is alarming many in the FDA and the medical community. While approved for use in food, propylene glycol has never been found safe to inhale, and is assumed to not be. As Dr. Richard D. Hurt, director of the Nicotine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic, said when asked if propylene glycol would be safe to breathe in, "I don't think so, but I'm not sure anyone knows for sure."

While these fake cigarettes have been banned in Australia or Hong Kong, they have yet to be formally regulated, tested, or prohibited here in the United States. So far only one Senator-Frank R. Lautenberg, of New Jersey-has asked for the e-cigarette to be removed from the market while it's being tested.

Part of the problem in testing, regulating, and approving the e-cigarettes is in their multi-message marketing ploy. They have made their name as a smoking cessation product, and yet Kip Schwartz, a lawyer for Smoking Everywhere, was recently quoted as saying, "The F.D.A. has the power to regulate Nicorette gum and the like because it is marketed as a smoking cessation product." But the company says its products are a cigarette alternative for adult enjoyment and make no claims to help smokers quit, according to Mr. Schwartz.

There is currently multiple studies of e-cigarettes under way in Auckland, as well as Virginia Commonwealth University, both centered around proving the efficacy of e-cigarettes in delivering nicotine. The group from Auckland recently reported that the e-cigarettes only deliver 10-18% of the nicotine that a cigarette would. It is for this reason that many people have come to know and depend on e-cigarettes to help them quit. However, until more research is done, they remain a somewhat mysterious, and quite possibly very dangerous, option.

"Cigarettes Without Smoke, Or Regulation"

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/02/us/02cigarette.html?_r=2

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