The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Thanks to Science and Progress--about which I'm mildly heartened, having read about the invention of e-cigarettes--it seems that it is now possible to have all the joy of smoking without the risk.
Now, for years I've wondered: Why can't we invent something like this? People love smoking, so why not take that as a given and try to invent a cigarette that doesn't kill them?
And that's just what Science and Progress have done! Behold, the e-cigarette--and it won't make the curtains reek, either, and it won't set the back seat of the car on fire when you try to flick the butt out of the window in a headwind and miss.
The user “vapes,” or puffs on the vapor, to get a hit of the addictive nicotine (and the familiar sensation of bringing a cigarette to one’s mouth) without the noxious substances found in cigarette smoke.
So what on earth could the problem be? After all,
“Nicotine itself is not especially hazardous,” the British medical society concluded in 2007. “If nicotine could be provided in a form that is acceptable and effective as a cigarette substitute, millions of lives could be saved.”
So, really, I mean it, what's the problem?
The prohibitionists lost that battle last year, when the F.D.A. was overruled in court, but they’ve continued the fight by publicizing the supposed perils of e-cigarettes. They argue that the devices, like smokeless tobacco, reduce the incentive for people to quit nicotine and could also be a “gateway” for young people and nonsmokers to become nicotine addicts.
I'm still puzzled. Why should there be an incentive to quit nicotine if it's not especially hazardous? And why would it be so terrible to be a nicotine addict?
What is the world's problem with pleasure? It's not as if life is so long and easy that we can afford to say no to all of it, after all.
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Dec '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Claire I agree with all you said above, though I for one, am sticking with the real thing.
What I am truly smitten by, is this classic advertisement and its adherence to a public sensibility that requires an allusion to sex to be wrapped in a wedding dress.
I don't wish the world was stuck in 1950, but I wouldn't mind going back to visit from time to time.
Edited on November 9, 2011 at 12:09pmDec '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
I think you nailed it in the title. Nicotine gum is available over-the-counter. If nicotine were their target, why did they not go after it?
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
I fear that if anyone figures out how much I enjoy nicotine gum, they will come after it.
Apr '11
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
My mother (b.1920) recalls a college teacher who grumbled about girls "riding around in rumble seats". She also disapproved of chewing gum: "A girl who will chew gum will smoke. A girl who will smoke will drink. And I don't have to tell you what a girl who will drink will do."
Some people are like that. And when they become liberated and no longer feel inhibitions about stealing, murder, fornication, treason, lying, and blasphemy, they invent new, therapeutic reasons for maintaining the prohibitions on life-style choices and indulgences.
Jun '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
"...Someone, Somewhere might enjoy them."
...
What is the world's problem with pleasure? It's not as if life is so long and easy that we can afford to say no to all of it, after all. ·
There are desperate people in this country who lie sleepless in terror that someone, somewhere, might be enjoying themselves.
Dec '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Grendel
Some people are like that. And when they become liberated and no longer feel inhibitions about stealing, murder, fornication, treason, lying, and blasphemy, ... · Nov 9 at 4:47am
First it's murder then armed robbery, before you know it they are spitting on the sidewalk.
Mar '11
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
I agree that the world is afflicted with large numbers of people who can only give their lives meaning by interfering in the lives of others, but, as an ex-smoker, I really question whether the users of e-cigarettes, or nicotine gum for that matter, enjoy their habit. The rush you get from your first dose of nicotine disappears quickly and the habitual user gets no rush. He continues to use because it is a habit and because he feels sick if he stops.
May '11
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Human nature always justifies addictions.
Aug '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Look out. Next thing you know, they'll be coming after caffeine.
Sep '11
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
I had to laugh at the part about flipping the cigarette butt into the back seat. That happened to me in the 70s. We had to replace the whole back seat and reupholster (sp?) the front seat. Ahh, my Chevy Nova...
Edited on November 9, 2011 at 4:02pmRe: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
I've heard that's true of marital relations, too.
Aug '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
I've heard that's true of marital relations, too. · Nov 9 at 6:58am
It doesn't have to be... ;-)
Aug '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
In combination with alcohol, they already have.
Aug '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
I love the expression on the brides face.
And I agree. More allusions to sex should be wrapped in wedding dresses. I despise this modern meme that says your sex life is over as soon as you get hitched. When people see a bride, they should think of sex. Not of elegance or modesty. Sex.
Apr '11
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
While e-cigarettes probably do a lot to curb the lung problems caused by inhaling smoke I'm not sure that they will have an effect of the heart related problems associated with cigarette use since those are probably caused by the nicotine itself. I have also hear that e-cigarets actually lead to more nicotine consumption, since the way it works is through a aerosol dispenser. This dispenser actually has something like 100 puffs of nicotine (10 puffs per cigarette I think) but without the mental Que of a done cigarette people just keep puffing.
Dec '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Would anyone care even about smoking if we weren't all paying for each others health care and if we all still died by 62? It's not so much that they're afraid someone might have fun; they just don't want to pay for the consequences.
Sep '10
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Claire Berlinski, Ed.
I've heard that's true of marital relations, too. · Nov 9 at 6:58am
That was depressing.
Mar '11
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Claire Berlinksi, bearish on marital relations? Scandal!
May '11
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Gang,
A friend, the Chief of Medicine at a very good hospital in the West, advised me that "...nicotine is a great drug, it stimulates in the way you desire. Tired? It perks you up. Frazzled? It smooths and soothes. Crappy delivery system, though." This, to a now former smoker, as I was going in for a triple by-pass in his hospital.
So yeah, if they developed a non-risky delivery system, press on.
-GM
Apr '11
Re: The Haunting Problem With e-Cigarettes: Someone, Somewhere Might Enjoy Them
Midget Faded Rattlesnake
I love the expression on the bride's face.
And I agree. More allusions to sex should be wrapped in wedding dresses. I despise this modern meme that says your sex life is over as soon as you get hitched. When people see a bride, they should think of sex. Not of elegance or modesty. Sex.
Why not all three?
I prefer the meme that your sex life is just starting when you get married. Or I would prefer it if I could find it anywhere.