It looks like a cigarette, it tastes like a cigarette, it feels like a cigarette, but it ISN'T a cigarette... Is it?

It seems like lawmakers have enough problems trying to regulate the tobacco industry, but now they have to manage a "fake" tobacco industry as well. E-cigarettes, or electronic cigarettes, are battery-operated devices that generally contain cartridges filled with nicotine, flavor and other chemicals. The e-cigarette turns nicotine, which is highly addictive, and other chemicals into a vapor that is inhaled by the user. Many controversies surround e-cigarettes. As a new product introduced in the past five years, not much information is known about its health effects.

Furthermore, e-cigarettes are marketed and sold to young people, available online and at shopping malls. Smoking Everywhere, an electronic cigarette company based in Florida, has an agreement before you enter their website that makes the user agree he/she is at least 18 or 21 (depending on the tobacco laws in their state), but what is stopping youth under the age of 18 from clicking "agree"? The web site also sells e-cigarettes (shown in the picture above) and what is stopping the young adults who illegally enter the web site from buying e-cigarettes? E-cigarettes are not cigarettes, but if they are available to young adults who cannot legally smoke, will constant use of something that looks like a cigarette, is used like a cigarette and contains the addictive substance nicotine lead young adults to switch to the real thing once they hit 18? The Food and Drug Administration was concerned about the safety of e-cigarettes, and in July 0f this year they released a news release that warned against potential dangers of e-cigarettes. Here are some highlights to their findings:

The FDA’s Division of Pharmaceutical Analysis analyzed the ingredients in a small sample of cartridges from two leading brands of electronic cigarettes. In one sample, the FDA’s analyses detected diethylene glycol, a chemical used in antifreeze that is toxic to humans, and in several other samples, the FDA analyses detected carcinogens, including nitrosamines. These tests indicate that these products contained detectable levels of known carcinogens and toxic chemicals to which users could potentially be exposed.

The FDA has been examining and detaining shipments of e-cigarettes at the border and the products it has examined thus far meet the definition of a combination drug-device product under the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act. The FDA has been challenged regarding its jurisdiction over certain e-cigarettes in a case currently pending in federal district court. The agency is also planning additional activities to address its concerns about these products.

Another concern that arises from e-cigarettes is that users can circumvent smoking bans because they are "vaping" rather than "smoking." Users can use e-cigarettes in restaurants, workplaces and airports - places where cigarettes are usually banned - because e-cigarettes do not emit smoke (they emit a vapor). I found the following diagram in a NY Times article, and I found it and the article very informative in regards to e-cigarettes.

The Times article says you can buy an e-cigarette starter kit for about $100 to $150. The pink e-cigarette at the beginning of this entry was listed as costing $99. An LA Times article about e-cigarettes says "a kit costing $70 to $100 will last a pack-a-day smoker perhaps 10 days." For smokers who smoke less than a pack a day, e-cigarettes may actually cost more than the real thing. However, heavy smokers who spend over $10 a day on cigarettes (2+ packs a day), e-cigarettes may actually be cheaper, especially with rising taxes on cigarettes.

Another primary concern about e-cigarettes is that they are offered in various candy and fruit flavors and come in a variety of colors (like the pink) that they may attract young people. This seems very similar to the ban recently passed by the FDA on REAL candy and fruit flavored cigarettes in an attempt to curtail youth smoking.

The Electronic Cigarette Association, or ECA, is an association of private sector companies engaged in electronic cigarette technologies. The ECA says on its website that it needs your help to ensure the survival of the e-cigarette as an alternative to a known killer. Although this seems extremely noble, I cannot help but think back to the LA Times article I read that says this year (2009) e-cigarette sales are expected to reach $100 million. Are they really concerned about our health, or is it just a ploy to put money into their own pockets?

I'm not going to make any assumptions, but go to their website and you can be the judge.