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The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

nytimes.com

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Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#31

Post by gwern »

deskglass wrote: post #13
qwerta wrote: post #6

I do not understand why some people try to regulate this. My guess is that income from smoking-tax is shrinking. I never smoked cigarette in my life, but I tried e-cigs as a replacement for coffee. It works, no hassle with tea or coffee preparation, also it is probably healthier. But being labeled as a smoker puts me off.

"I tried e-cigs as a replacement for coffee...it is probably healthier." I'll grant that vaporization ameliorates the problems merely caused by smoke inhalation, but doesn't inhaling nicotine cause many health problems on its own? I'll also not aware of there being health issues that result from drinking a normal amount of tea or coffee.

> but doesn't inhaling nicotine cause many health problems on its own?

Nicotine on its own causes very little harm.

(A word of advice, though, if you decide to read up on this topic: it is extremely common in the research literature to lazily conflate tobacco with nicotine. You will routinely find abstracts which say something like 'we sampled smokers...' and then in the conclusion write '...we conclude that nicotine damages cognitive performance', as if tobacco was nothing but solidified nicotine. When you find something negative about nicotine, you need to check that tobacco is not driving the results.)

Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#32

Post by pvnick »

E-Cigarettes are going to save millions of lives in the coming years. They're harmless, and, if you get a brand that feels like the real thing, easy to transition to. I hope the tobacco industry takes a huge financial hit from the sale of these things because they literally prevent people from dying.

That being said, when I switched to e-cigarettes, it was very easy to switch back to regular cigarettes. That "narrow bridge of familiarity" was easy to cross back over, especially when I ran out of vapor cartridges. Ultimately for me to quit it took stopping cigarettes cold-turkey. Nicotine gum and a transition to regular gum helped a lot. It's been one of the hardest but most rewarding things I've ever done in my life.

Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#33

Post by danpalmer »

If I smoked, it certainly wouldn't be something I would show off to others readily or be proud of in any way, I'd see it as an embarrassment. Even if these are safer, I still consider them to be anti-social.

I'm not a smoker, but I can't see why e-cigarettes should be anything more than a way to help stop smoking.

Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#34

Post by moocowduckquack »

thom wrote: post #18
cliveowen wrote: post #9

I can't fathom who thought these things were a good idea. I see people "smoking" these things everywhere: on the bus, on the train, at the effing university during classes! I don't care if it's just steam, I don't want it in my face. I can't believe people don't get this.

Yeah, I too despise the militant glee people derive from using them everywhere. I also hate the enormous numbers of tacky shops ('MyCiggy'... jeez) appearing to flog them, which seem single-handedly to be propping up the Guild of Bad Typographers.

Don't piss off the Guild. Their letters are illegible, so you never really know what they are threatening you with until it is too late.

Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#35

Post by anon1385 »

samatman wrote: post #16
300bps wrote: post #4

I am starting to see people puffing on these stupid e-cigarettes in restaurants that ban cigarette smoking. When you say something to them they invariably try to "educate" you on what an e-cigarette is and how it's different. The problem is that e-cigarettes have not been shown to be safe. From the article: Most public health officials seem to agree that the levels of toxins in e-cigarettes are far lower than those i…

You have the scientific method backwards. Things are not shown to be safe, ever. They are shown to be dangerous. For example, cannabis smoke. It has been shown to cause emphysema. Despite rather large and lengthy population studies, it has not been shown to cause lung cancer. That's despite both your instinct and my own that "of course any smoke causes cancer of the lungs". No, cannabis smoke has not been demonstrate…

>That's despite both your instinct and my own that "of course any smoke causes cancer of the lungs". No, cannabis smoke has not been demonstrated to do that.

http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/31/2/280.full

The risk of lung cancer increased 8% (95% confidence interval (CI) 2–15) for each joint-yr of cannabis smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables including cigarette smoking, and 7% (95% CI 5–9) for each pack-yr of cigarette smoking, after adjustment for confounding variables including cannabis smoking. The highest tertile of cannabis use was associated with an increased risk of lung cancer (relative risk 5.7 (95% CI 1.5–21.6)), after adjustment for confounding variables including cigarette smoking.

In conclusion, the results of the present study indicate that long-term cannabis use increases the risk of lung cancer in young adults.

Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#36

Post by 300bps »

rickdale wrote: post #10

I used to run a custom e-cigarette company. We sold it this summer. My take away was that the federal government eventually will get involved and start regulating the shipping of these items. Unfortunately the stuff people are getting now is mostly made in China and you can't be too certain of what the heck you are getting when you take a big inhale and just taste the apple flavoring or whatever. Who knows what chemi…

Definitely hit them on airplanes before with no problems.

If you were flying on an airline based in the United States, you violated their rules.

http://www.businessinsider.com/you-cant-smoke-e-cigarettes-i...

Beyond that, what gives you the right to put other people's health at risk? You have either judged them safe or decided you don't care about the risks. You can't make that decision for other people and you're not in a position to know what genetic or other disorders that someone might have that make them more susceptible to any kind of tobacco (ex: http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/condition/alpha-1-antitrypsin-deficie...). How is this any different from me walking onto a plane with a clump of asbestos fibers and waving it over your head on the plane?

Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#37

Post by [deleted] »

gwern wrote: post #31
deskglass wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I tried e-cigs as a replacement for coffee...it is probably healthier." I'll grant that vaporization ameliorates the problems merely caused by smoke inhalation, but doesn't inhaling nicotine cause many health problems on its own? I'll also not aware of there being health issues that result from drinking a normal amount of tea or coffee.

> but doesn't inhaling nicotine cause many health problems on its own? Nicotine on its own causes very little harm. (A word of advice, though, if you decide to read up on this topic: it is extremely common in the research literature to lazily conflate tobacco with nicotine. You will routinely find abstracts which say something like 'we sampled smokers...' and then in the conclusion write '...we conclude that nicotine…

[deleted]

Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#38

Post by qwerta »

gwern wrote: post #31
deskglass wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"I tried e-cigs as a replacement for coffee...it is probably healthier." I'll grant that vaporization ameliorates the problems merely caused by smoke inhalation, but doesn't inhaling nicotine cause many health problems on its own? I'll also not aware of there being health issues that result from drinking a normal amount of tea or coffee.

> but doesn't inhaling nicotine cause many health problems on its own? Nicotine on its own causes very little harm. (A word of advice, though, if you decide to read up on this topic: it is extremely common in the research literature to lazily conflate tobacco with nicotine. You will routinely find abstracts which say something like 'we sampled smokers...' and then in the conclusion write '...we conclude that nicotine…

+1

Also nicotine effects are more isolated to brain. Caffeine affects whole body including metabolism stimulation and hearth rate. Not so good for office worker.

Re: The E-Cigarette Industry, Waiting to Exhale

#39

Post by anextio »

ubercore wrote: post #30
anextio wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who switched to an e-cigarette, I might be able to answer this for you. The first thing is that the level and effect of nicotine that is absorbed though vapor is a lot less than a regular cigarette. The reason for this is twofold: firstly, the lungs/mouth/throat seem to simply not pick up as much as in a cigarette, and secondly, cigarette smoke also contains MAOIs, which increase the sensitivity of the bra…

I don't disagree with your sentiment at all, but have you thought about the "curb" being the primary factor behind the increased creativity? Is leaning back and puffing from a vape as effective for you?

Of course I have, and yeah, it is as effective. Sometimes I will still get up and walk around while doing it.

I'm not going to claim any scientific miracles from it (that would be dumb), but for me the combination of taking a break from the screen and having some nicotine is what gets my brain going.

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