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News & ArtsTuesday, June 2, 2009
Life Vapor-Misting Section? Or Non-Vapor-Misting Section?
Posted by Dan Savage on Tue, Jun 2, 2009 at 8:51 AM
During 34 years of smoking, Carolyn Smeaton has tried countless ways to reduce her three-pack-a-day habit, including a nicotine patch, nicotine gum and a prescription drug. But stop-smoking aids always failed her.Then, having watched a TV infomercial at her home here, Ms. Smeaton tried an electronic cigarette, which claimed to be a less dangerous way to feed her addiction. The battery-powered device she bought online delivered an odorless dose of nicotine and flavoring without cigarette tar or additives, and produced a vapor mist nearly identical in appearance to tobacco smoke.
“I feel like this could save my life,” said Ms. Smeaton, 47, who has cut her tobacco smoking to a pack and a half daily, supplemented by her e-cigarette.
There's a photo of Ms. Smeaton exhaling her "vapor mist" in a "smoke-free Dunkin Donuts." She looks like someone who's been smoking three-packs-a-day for 30+ years. And if I may speak on behalf of anti-smoking Nazis everywhere: We don't want to sit next to nicotine-addicted dumbfucks exhaling "vapor mist" anymore than we want to sit next to ones exhaling smoke.
And I wouldn't be so sure that your e-cigarettes are going to save your life, Carolyn. First, a pack-and-a-half-a-day can kill you dead. And the stuff you're inhaling
...a starter kit [includes] a battery-powered cigarette and replaceable cartridges that typically contain nicotine (though cartridges can be bought without it), flavoring and propylene glycol, a liquid whose vaporizing produces the smokelike mist.... Propylene glycol is used in antifreeze, and also to create artificial smoke or fog in theatrical productions. The F.D.A. has classified it as an additive that is “generally recognized as safe” for use in food. But when asked whether inhaling it was safe, Dr. Richard D. Hurt, director of the Nicotine Dependence Center at the Mayo Clinic, said, “I don’t think so, but I’m not sure anyone knows for sure.”Of the e-cigarettes themselves, Dr. Hurt added: “We basically don’t know anything about them. They’ve never been tested for safety or efficacy to help people stop smoking.”
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“I feel like this could save my life,” said Ms. Smeaton, 47, who has cut her tobacco smoking to a pack and a half daily, supplemented by her e-cigarette."
that made me laugh out loud first thing this morning. she's been smoking SINCE SHE WAS 13.
that made me laugh out loud first thing this morning. she's been smoking SINCE SHE WAS 13.
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I have a theory about people who say they can't quit. It's that they really want to keep smoking so they tell people they can't quit. Then, instead of scorn, they get pity and they get to keep smoking!
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@3: Only psychologically. Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night needing a cigarette?
Vince is right - smokers who can't quit are weaklings to begin with; they just need that crutch.
Vince is right - smokers who can't quit are weaklings to begin with; they just need that crutch.
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Mmmm...savor the mellow taste of Camel vapor-mist menthols. Cool, refreshing, yet rugged and masculine. It could save your life*.
*these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, Science, or anyone else.
*these statements have not been evaluated by the FDA, Science, or anyone else.
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Fuck this propylene glycol bullshit, but I was actually thinking of giving my dad a regular marijuana (sorry, "herbal") vaporizer for father's day. As long as he can't manage to quit, I figure he might be better of vaping his tobacco rather than burning it. Anybody actually use vaporizers for this purpose?
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This is one of the few good things about getting older. I'm about at the point where, if the ciggies haven't caused me any problems yet, there's a good chance they never will.
Guess I'll just keep smoking regular old cigs, thanks.
Guess I'll just keep smoking regular old cigs, thanks.
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I don't know, if I had a choice, I'd prefer sitting next to the odorless, (presumably somewhat less harmful) vapor mist to secondhand cigarette smoke. But, obviously, neither would be best.
@4 - Yeah, I'm pretty sure we settle the question of whether nicotine was physically addictive some time ago (hint: it is).
@4 - Yeah, I'm pretty sure we settle the question of whether nicotine was physically addictive some time ago (hint: it is).
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@4 Cigarettes aren't physically addictive? Dumbest comment I have read all week. Yes, I have awoke in the middle of the night needing a butt. And any smoker can tell you about the physical effects of nicotine withdrawal. As far as the weakling part, I'll just chalk that up to typical anonymous tough guy talk. Everybody has a weakness. Am I right Ziggity? Or are you perfect?
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@ 10 beat me to it. Cigarettes are most certainly physically addictive. They are also psychologically addictive. The double whammy is why they're so hard to kick.
I smoked for only a year in high school, and quit when I realized that I was becoming addicted. I still cheated on and off for another year. That's how fast tobacco gets its tentacles in you.
I smoked for only a year in high school, and quit when I realized that I was becoming addicted. I still cheated on and off for another year. That's how fast tobacco gets its tentacles in you.
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I would think that the exhaled vapor still contains nicotine--so the electronic cigarettes don't really eliminate second-hand smoke
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There's a guy selling these things from a kiosk in Northgate Mall. Ugh. I've inhaled propylene glycol before, from a smoke machine; it's not something I'd like to suck in deeply.
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Nicotine substitutes make sense as a way to remove the crutch of physical withdrawl excuses from the addicts repetoire of excuses and rationalizations, and as such they can work pretty well in a cessation program. But this thing is just evil. This is just trading one bad habit with another slightly less harmful one. It allows the addict a way to retain almost every bit of their addictive behavior while providing them with even easier rationalizations for the addiction. This sort of thing could be more deadly in the long run because it seems safer.
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Goodness, people, where is the compassion? Nicotine is addictive. None of us are perfect. Cut each other some slack. And, if we are ever are in a sitituation where one of us has to sit next to someone smoking or using their electric cigarette, I'll volunteer. If you want grace for your own failings, peculiarities, and vices, you have to offer grace to others. No, I'm not a smoker. (And, that goes for the pot smokers, too, I'll sit next to them, and thats another thing I've never tried.)
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KIM,
You have the same attitude than i have toward smokers... Congrats. you (we) are making a better world to live in.
PS and i have been smoking for years (2 1/2 pack a day) , stopped 7 years ago by just simply saying this is my last cigarette, never smoked since
You have the same attitude than i have toward smokers... Congrats. you (we) are making a better world to live in.
PS and i have been smoking for years (2 1/2 pack a day) , stopped 7 years ago by just simply saying this is my last cigarette, never smoked since
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Propelyne Glycol?
Isn't that the substance used by Prince Xenu the Galactic Federation Overlord used to cluster the Thetans and send them flying through space?
Isn't that the substance used by Prince Xenu the Galactic Federation Overlord used to cluster the Thetans and send them flying through space?
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My sister and brother-in-law have been using these and it's helping them a lot. They have tried to quit many, many times. Shouldn't we be applauding people who are using these to cut back and/or quit smoking?
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Yeah, screw that old lady for trying to quit! Why doesn't she just die already? She's probably poor, so no one will miss her anyway. Amirite, Dan?
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Propylene glycol is also in most eyedrops, orange bitters, food colorings, perfume, hand sanitizer, and deodorant. So, chances are there's some on your body somewhere right now.
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There's a photo of Ms. Smeaton exhaling her "vapor mist" in a "smoke-free Dunkin Donuts." She looks like someone who's been smoking three-packs-a-day for 30+ years.
Um...what? Here I was expecting a withered crone that looks like she's 80, and all I see is a slightly overweight middle aged woman. Is this just you lumping all the things you hate* together?
*fatties, women, and smokers.
Um...what? Here I was expecting a withered crone that looks like she's 80, and all I see is a slightly overweight middle aged woman. Is this just you lumping all the things you hate* together?
*fatties, women, and smokers.
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@30
I have no idea if it's dangerous, but inhaling something is very different from applying it to the skin, or even digesting it. Our lungs are as close as you can get to putting a substance directly into the bloodstream, short of using a needle.
It's proooobably healthier than all of the tar and crap. I just wonder if it's superior to using one of the vaporizers already on the market, where you'd just use loose tobacco and wouldn't have to buy cartridges, or inhale propylene glycol.
I have no idea if it's dangerous, but inhaling something is very different from applying it to the skin, or even digesting it. Our lungs are as close as you can get to putting a substance directly into the bloodstream, short of using a needle.
It's proooobably healthier than all of the tar and crap. I just wonder if it's superior to using one of the vaporizers already on the market, where you'd just use loose tobacco and wouldn't have to buy cartridges, or inhale propylene glycol.
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I own an e-cigarette and, yes, I know they aren't necessarily safe, but they do work. Plus, they really don't smell at all - the mist that's exhaled is odorless and dissipates in a second or two.
I still wouldn't use one in a restaurant, but if someone does... whatever. I don't care enough to get riled up about it.
I still wouldn't use one in a restaurant, but if someone does... whatever. I don't care enough to get riled up about it.
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There is actually a prescription nicotine inhaler on the market, looks a lot like a cigarette. My dad used it to effectively quit after 30 years of heavy smoking. It helps to deal with both the neurochemical addiction to the nicotine and the physical/psychological habit addiction to the rhythm of smoking, holding a cigarette, etc. If this is the same thing...great, I have seen its effectiveness first hand. If not, and someone took the idea and rigged up a nicotine delivery method, well, I'm doubtful of its safety. And, yes, this should not be used as a substitute for the same quantity of smoking/nicotine as it appears our spokeswoman is doing and the product marketing encourages. The whole point is that it enables you to do it less and less over time without as many harmful effects as continuing to smoke cigs.
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@10: Funny I smoked for 8 years and never had that problem. Guess I am a tough guy.
Who told you I was perfect? In fact, it took coming to terms with the idea that anyone who shells out 6 bucks to inhale fiery cancer and then blames the plant for their actions is a fucking moron before I could quit.
"Heh, heh, it's addictive, what can I say?" That you're a bit more evolved than a plant wrapped in paper?
Who told you I was perfect? In fact, it took coming to terms with the idea that anyone who shells out 6 bucks to inhale fiery cancer and then blames the plant for their actions is a fucking moron before I could quit.
"Heh, heh, it's addictive, what can I say?" That you're a bit more evolved than a plant wrapped in paper?
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@7, I tried putting tobacco in an herbal vaporizer once. Never, ever do this. Just like putting tobacco in a "water pipe" it is a really bad idea. It turned the whole thing a gross yellow color and tasted absolutely disgusting.
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Hey Dan, do you have a problem with people using the patch or chewing nicotine gum next to you? You get the same second hand effects. Gum helped me quit after nearly 20 years of smoking. I probably would have used this if it was available.
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35- It took you 8 years to realize that cigarettes are expensive? That's about as believable as your claim that those 8 entire years of smoking didn't involve any addiction.
Sorry, but years of careful scientific research says that cigarettes ARE addictive. Physically as well as psychologically. They studied the properties of nicotine, as well as its effects on very large numbers of smokers. If the "addiction" to cigarettes really were just a bunch of weaklings fishing for sympathy, they would know. I think I'll trust that carefully and competently performed research over your one example of anecdotal evidence. You just sound like a Phillip Morris executive.
Sorry, but years of careful scientific research says that cigarettes ARE addictive. Physically as well as psychologically. They studied the properties of nicotine, as well as its effects on very large numbers of smokers. If the "addiction" to cigarettes really were just a bunch of weaklings fishing for sympathy, they would know. I think I'll trust that carefully and competently performed research over your one example of anecdotal evidence. You just sound like a Phillip Morris executive.
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@ 36,
Perhaps, that is why people often use flavored tobacco. I've been around people using apple and mango, and they didn't smell bad.
Perhaps, that is why people often use flavored tobacco. I've been around people using apple and mango, and they didn't smell bad.
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37- gum and patches do not travel through the air and into other people's bloodstreams. So no, you don't get the same second-hand effects.
I know that this thing isn't a cigarette, and doesn't smell as bad and doesn't have all the tar that cigarettes do, but it still may have secondhand effects. That's the thing about drugs that go to the market without ever being tested first: not everybody trusts them. Therefore, not everybody should have to be exposed to them, in this case through the air.
Now, if they actually test this product, and they determine that it's absolutely harmless, then she can use it all she wants next to me. Really. But as long as:
1) It might have unknown effects, and
2) It travels through the air, then it follows that
3) It might have unknown secondhand effects.
I know that this thing isn't a cigarette, and doesn't smell as bad and doesn't have all the tar that cigarettes do, but it still may have secondhand effects. That's the thing about drugs that go to the market without ever being tested first: not everybody trusts them. Therefore, not everybody should have to be exposed to them, in this case through the air.
Now, if they actually test this product, and they determine that it's absolutely harmless, then she can use it all she wants next to me. Really. But as long as:
1) It might have unknown effects, and
2) It travels through the air, then it follows that
3) It might have unknown secondhand effects.
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My BF just bought one of these to help him quit! The only thing I can say about its safety is that it actually might be safer because if you're going to inhale something, it might as well not be on fire, right? But it truly is completely odorless. If someone tried to smoke it in my bar or restaurant though, I'd throw him out just for being a douchebag.
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dan can't ban e-cigs from bars or anywhere else, so maybe those of us who don't want his whiny ass around should blow nicotine vapor in his face whenever we see him.
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