{"id":1364,"date":"2014-01-09T00:27:08","date_gmt":"2014-01-09T00:27:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1364"},"modified":"2014-02-27T18:21:13","modified_gmt":"2014-02-27T18:21:13","slug":"2013-the-year-of-the-e-cig-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=1364","title":{"rendered":"2013 — The Year of the E-Cig"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"stephen-dorff-blu-e-cigs\"<\/a><\/p>\n

You’ve seen the ads, we’ve all seen them. They’re almost ubiquitous on TV and in magazines.<\/p>\n

One publication called 2013 the “Year of the E-cigs.”<\/a> E-cigs are expected to seriously take off in 2014.<\/p>\n

I can type “e-cig” into Google or into the Tobacco.org database and I will literally get hundreds of hits. You can find hundreds upon hundreds of articles about e-cigs all over the Internet. It reminds me of Googling “smoking ban” five years ago.<\/p>\n

Here’s a sampling of articles I found.<\/p>\n

France will regulate e-cigs as tobacco products.<\/a><\/p>\n

E-cig industry booming.<\/a><\/p>\n

2014 expected to be a huge year for e-cigs.<\/a><\/p>\n

E-cigs booming, government rushing to regulate them.<\/a><\/p>\n

Philip Morris getting involved in e-cig business.<\/a><\/p>\n

I see them on sale now at every mini-mart I walk into. Two years ago, you never saw them for sale anywhere. E-cigs became a billion dollar industry in 2013, and the tobacco companies are jumping on board to get a piece of the pie (until now, mostly smaller companies made this things.) Blu, the biggest e-cig company out there was bought by Lorillard<\/a> last year (Lorillard makes Newport cigarettes which are heavily marketed to African-Americans.)<\/p>\n

But, what does it mean? And what are e-cigs, exactly?<\/p>\n

\"ecig\"<\/a><\/p>\n

E-cigs are not fully understood by a lot of people, but more people are learning. I related a story the other day about when Montana’s smoking ban went into effect, the state issued a ruling saying e-cigs were banned, too. After the state was given more information about what e-cigs were, the state quickly lifted that ban. It was obvious that state officials weren’t even sure what they were.<\/p>\n

Here’s the deal, e-cigs are not literally an electronic cigarette. A better definition is that they are a battery-powered nicotine delivery system. Essentially the user gets a little jolt of nicotine-laced steam. They don’t have any smell, they don’t irritate the eyes. I’ve tried them. There is no flavour. You just get a jolt, like a cup of coffee.<\/p>\n

Is this a bad thing? A good thing? I’m honestly on the fence here.<\/p>\n

\"blu-cigs\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Honestly, on some levels, I don’t see a difference between e-cigs and nicotine patches. The person is getting a jolt of nicotine, but not the 1,000 other carcinogens and toxins contained in real cigarettes. There isn’t the benzene, formaldehyde, Polonium-210, toluene, acetone, cyanide and arsenic\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>as found in tobacco.<\/span><\/p>\n

[EDIT: Someone pointed out to me after reading this that some studies <\/a>have shown there ARE some of these\u00a0carcinogens\u00a0found in e-cig vapour such as\u00a0formaldehyde and toluene, etc., and that the vapour is not “pure” nicotine. I was not aware of these studies. The amount of these carcinogens is vastly lower than what is found in cigarettes. One study showed 9-450 times lower.]<\/em><\/p>\n

But, wh<\/span>at there is is nicotine. Nicotine itself is not well understood, either. It’s actually not the ingredient in cigarettes that gives people lung cancer (a lot of people believe it is.). Nicotine all by itself isn’t that bad for you, other than it’s not good for your blood pressure.<\/span><\/p>\n

It isn’t that bad for you except for one devilish trait. It is incredibly addictive, possibly ounce for ounce the most physically addictive substance on the planet. Like heroin and cocaine, it’s an alkaloid that triggers an incredibly powerful addiction response. That’s the evil of nicotine. It physically addicts people to a product that is incredibly toxic and poisonous.<\/p>\n

So, when a smoker puffs on an e-cig, they’re satisfying that nicotine addiction, similar to a nicotine patch, without all the other poisons. Is this a good thing? I don’t know. I don’t have a problem with nicotine patches. I would prefer people use patches or e-cigs than Chantix as a way to quit tobacco because of Chantix’s side effects of causing depression and suicide.<\/p>\n

But one of the way nicotine patches work is through a regimen of lowering the dose of nicotine until the person can go “cold turkey.” The down side of e-cigs is sure, there’s not the same level of toluene and benzene, but you’re still feeding that addiction. And ultimately, if you want to break away from cigarettes, you have to break away from the nicotine.<\/p>\n

In talking to people who use e-cigs, I’ve gotten mixed feedback. A lot of people use them so they can get their little jolts of nicotine when they go out because they’re no longer allowed to smoke anywhere. Some people have told me they helped them quit smoking, but most people told they don’t really help. Because they’re tasteless, they don’t satisfy the urge to smoke.<\/p>\n

So, I remain on the fence. I simply cannot develop a strong opinion pro or con — though I detest the “sexy” advertising Blu is using to sell its product — using the same ad techniques that the tobacco industry has used for years to make their products look sexy and sophisticated. They might help some people quit smoking, but it appears, at least anecdotally, they aren’t that effective as a quitting tool. They aren’t as toxic as cigarettes, but they keep the nicotine addict addicted to nicotine. I know this, they aren’t going away, not anytime soon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

You’ve seen the ads, we’ve all seen them. They’re almost ubiquitous on TV and in magazines. One publication called 2013 the “Year of the E-cigs.” E-cigs are expected to seriously take off in 2014. I can type “e-cig” into Google or into the Tobacco.org database and I will literally get hundreds of hits. You can … Continue reading 2013 — The Year of the E-Cig<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1365,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[21,22,239,57,60],"tags":[591,592],"class_list":["post-1364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-e-cigarettes","category-e-cigs","category-lorillard","category-smoking-2","category-smoking-bans-2","tag-e-cigarettes","tag-e-cigs"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/01\/stephen-dorff-blu-e-cigs.jpg?fit=300%2C400&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p4hpEa-m0","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3121,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3121","url_meta":{"origin":1364,"position":0},"title":"More bad news about teens and e-cigs — e-cig use among kids tripled from 2013 to 2014","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"April 17, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Man, this is frustrating news. Teen smoking down, of course, but down for the wrong reason -- because a LOT more kids than ever are now \"vaping\" instead. A recent Centers for Disease Control survey shows that the use of e-cigs has tripled in just one year among teens (from\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Blu"","block_context":{"text":"Blu","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=95"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/am_140826_electronic_cigarette_woman_800x600.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/am_140826_electronic_cigarette_woman_800x600.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/am_140826_electronic_cigarette_woman_800x600.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/am_140826_electronic_cigarette_woman_800x600.jpg?fit=800%2C600&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2020,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2020","url_meta":{"origin":1364,"position":1},"title":"Sen. Chuck Shumer calls for ban on e-cigarette advertising to minors","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"March 14, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"This is interesting ... and becoming a bigger and bigger thorn with e-cigs -- e-cigarette advertising. (thanks to Haruko for this link) Sen. Chuck Shumer, D-N.Y., has called on the Federal Trade Commission to ban e-cig advertising to minors. Currently, unlike cigarettes, there are NO advertising guidelines in place for\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "cigarette advertising"","block_context":{"text":"cigarette advertising","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=17"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/60290267_santasmoke.jpg?fit=650%2C306&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/60290267_santasmoke.jpg?fit=650%2C306&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/03\/60290267_santasmoke.jpg?fit=650%2C306&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3272,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3272","url_meta":{"origin":1364,"position":2},"title":"UK study: E-cigarettes not effective in the longterm in helping smokers quit","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 23, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"This study is going to go against a lot of anecdotal stories that I see repeatedly on the Internet. A study done in the UK has shown that E-cigarettes are not very effective for helping smokers quit and that most smokers who use E-cigs as a smoking cessation tool are\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "E-cig advertising"","block_context":{"text":"E-cig advertising","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=240"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/05\/e-cig3.jpg?fit=1200%2C675&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":3403,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=3403","url_meta":{"origin":1364,"position":3},"title":"Report: Peer pressure helping to drive e-cigarette use among teens","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"July 28, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"Arrrgghhh, this makes my head explode. A University of Southern California study published in Pediatrics states that teens are being encouraged to use e-cigs by the fact that all of their friends are using e-cigs. Banging ... my ... head ... on ... my ... desk .... They study, which\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "e-cigs"","block_context":{"text":"e-cigs","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=22"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/ehp.122-A244.g0031.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/ehp.122-A244.g0031.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/ehp.122-A244.g0031.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/ehp.122-A244.g0031.jpg?fit=800%2C533&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2824,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2824","url_meta":{"origin":1364,"position":4},"title":"E-cig legislative roundup: Possible ban on e-cig sales to minors in Montana; Michigan governor vetoes e-cig bills; Island of Hawaii bans e-cigs in public places","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"January 20, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"A bill was introduced during this session of the Montana State Legislature to ban e-cigarette sales to minors. I find this is a tad odd because the Food and Drug Administration is considering rules to ban e-cigarette sales to minors nationwide. However, I have no idea what the timeline is\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "e-cig bans"","block_context":{"text":"e-cig bans","link":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?cat=252"},"img":{"alt_text":"PAY-Young-girl-smoking-an-electronic-cigarette","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/01\/PAY-Young-girl-smoking-an-electronic-cigarette-500x333.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2239,"url":"https:\/\/pepesnonsmokingpartytimelounge.com\/?p=2239","url_meta":{"origin":1364,"position":5},"title":"Big Tobacco getting into the e-cigarette business — a good thing or a bad thing?","author":"Pepe Lepew","date":"May 18, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Here is a story from Alternet about how Big Tobacco companies are buying into the e-cigarette business. This began a couple of years ago when Lorillard\u00a0(Newport Cigarettes) bought Blu E-Cigs, the biggest e-cig company out there. RJR owns an e-cig brand\u00a0called Vuse. 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