Electronic cigarettes, normally called E Cigs are certainly making a dent in the sales of traditional tobacco filled cigarettes. Looking at the numbers it would seem that about one billion of these simple devices will be sold this year.
The anti-tobacco lobby worked hard and long to have tobacco products banned from public places, but it must be understood that there are many people who still enjoy smoking and in many cases these same people want to enjoy a cigarette after their meal or when hanging out with buddies in a bar. Now they can, E Cigs are perfectly legal in any indoor environment; even hospitals cannot ask you to leave if you are using one. This fact is very important to those who like to smoke.
An electronic cigarette is a rather simple device; it is a rechargeable lithium battery which is connected to an atomizer which heats a drop of liquid. There are many E Cig liquid flavors to choose from, some of the really popular ones are pink bubble gum and watermelon but they even have flavors that mimic the taste of a real tobacco cigarette, both regular and menthol. The device does not deliver smoke; the atomizer reduces the drop of liquid nicotine into a vapor which is then inhaled by the smoker. When the vapor is exhaled it may appear to be smoke but it is not; there is no odor, no toxins and no ash and certainly there is not an ashtray full of butts.
When E Cigs first became popular there was rumors floating around that they would be regulated just like cigarettes but the FDAs possible action was blocked in Federal Court. So instead of attempting to regulate them as a pharmaceutical they attempted to regulate them as a tobacco product. This label does not fit either because there is no tobacco used, instead the nicotine and the various E Cig liquid flavors are delivered as a propylene glycol vapor.
For smokers this is tremendous. It is now possible to get the burst of nicotine without having it delivered along with carbon monoxide, tar and hundreds of other chemicals, many of them considered carcinogenic. Now the smoker can sit comfortably in a closed room and still enjoy smoking without offending others.
