Local electronic cigarette use may be spurred by recent freezing temperatures and the statewide smoking ban, but health advocates are cautioning people of marketing claims and use of the unregulated product.

Because the battery operated devices, also referred to as “e-cigarettes”, are not considered a tobacco product, there is no law governing its sale or use.

The Food and Drug Administration is currently awaiting a decision in a federal case brought against it by electronic cigarette companies to keep e-cigarettes out of FDA control.

The devices are used to vaporize e-liquid, consisting of nicotine, flavor and other chemicals such as the solvent propylene glycol, contained in e-cigarette cartridges for inhalation by the user.

e-cigarette

Mitch Nuttelmann, owner of Nuttelmann Enterprises, began selling the product regionally in March in anticipation of the smoking ban going into effect, and while the market is beginning to emerge in Columbus, he said many Norfolk smokers began using e-cigarettes.

“There is no tar, no carcinogens, no second-hand smoke,” Nuttelmann said. “It produces a vapor mist and all you blow out is H2O. It’s clean smoking.”

Because the product does not contain tobacco and does not have to be lit, it is not prohibited under the smoking ban, Nuttelmann said. In addition to heralding it as a smoking alternative, he said the product could be used as a smoking cessation alternative because cartridges are designated with varying levels of nicotine.

Ruth Mueller, coordinator for Tobacco Free Platte and Colfax County coalitions, said the FDA has not tested nor approved the product and hopefully people will avoid it until proper examination can be conducted.

“What we know is very limited and that is where the danger lies,” Mueller said, especially concerning nicotine levels and rate of inhalation.

Nicotine levels in a single cigarette range from 1.5-3 milligrams, whereas a single e-cigarette cartridge can contain levels from 0-24 milligrams.

Because nicotine can be an addictive substance that increases blood pressure, heart rate, respiratory rate and causes the release of dopamine, that is where a bulk of the concern lies, Mueller said.

“Nicotine is not healthy, (and) that’s where some of the danger is,” she said, especially since “no one is sure how people are actually using it, if they inhale a whole cartridge in one sitting” or in multiple sittings.

According to the FDA, public health experts expressed concern that electronic cigarettes could increase nicotine addiction and tobacco use in young people.

While neither of the local tobacco stores sell e-cigarettes, the product has sold at some local bars and convenience stores in the area, such as East 30 Bar & Package.

Judy Meays, owner of East 30 Bar, said she has sold a few and e-cigarettes have drawn additional interest by some of her customers.

While she has not seen their use in her establishment, some who bought the product did so for home use.

“They bought them for when it’s cold so they don’t have to go outside the house,” Meays said.

Kim Schaffer, manager of Cigarettes & More in Norfolk, said sales of e-cigarettes have been significant.

“We sell them like crazy,” Schaffer said. “Not only can you smoke them anywhere, there is no smoke, nothing burning,” which can create a fire hazard.

“You can smoke in bars and restaurants or anywhere else,” she said, and “not have to go outside, especially right now.”

Schaffer not only sells e-cigarettes but she has become a user and advocate as well, attributing their use to improving her health by reducing her two pack a day habit down to one-half pack daily.

Her doctor did some research, and she said he didn’t see anything wrong with them. She said he wished more smokers would utilize them rather than regular cigarettes.

“It has helped tremendously. A lot of people I know had problems with breathing,” she said, but since changing to e-cigarettes they have experienced “improved lung capacity and better breathing.”

“It’s amazing,” Schaffer said.

Mueller said such claims have yet to be verified as the products have not been submitted to the FDA for evaluation or approval. The products to not contain any health warnings comparable to FDA-approved nicotine replacement products or conventional cigarettes.

Nobody “is sure of all the effects or how people are actually using it,” Mueller said, because “it has not been tested, it has not been approved … so buyer beware.”

source: www.columbustelegram.com

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One Response to “City smokers begin turning to e-cigarettes”

1. Max Headroom says:

   January 4, 2010 at 10:44 pm

   A lot of people are trying to keep the idea alive that electronic cigarettes are bad for you. But the truth of the matter is, that so many former smokers are able to move away from the enslavement of tobacco cigarettes, that the facts are starting to speak for themselves. The electronic cigarette is giving many smokers the ability to overcome their addiction to these cancer causing tobacco implements, by giving the “smoker” a hit of nicotine vapor, and without the toxic agents that are known carcinogens.