Smokeless cigarette OK with smoking ban

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - At a quick glance, electronic cigarettes look a lot like regular cigarettes. They are about the same size, and users still exhale what looks like smoke. But, the battery-powered device doesn't have any tobacco in it.

"People are just amazed," Lisa Lehman, Manager of Tropical Illusions Tanning Salon in Fort Wayne, said. "We feel like this is just another option for people who smoke."

Electronic cigarettes have a rechargeable battery, and a cartridge with nicotine in it screws into the battery. When someone inhales, the cigarette releases a water vapor with nicotine in the vapor. There are also chemicals added to give the flavor of tobacco or many other flavors including cherry and chocolate.

Tropical Illusions owner Jerry Brickley started using E-cigs, a brand of electronic cigarettes, three months ago after smoking tobacco cigarettes for 30 years.

"It was the easiest switch over I've ever had," he said. "I quit tobacco the first day."

Brickley said he's tried nicotine patches to help him quit in the past, but wasn't successful. He added one of the hard parts about quitting smoking was finding something new to do with his hands.

"It's the habit of having the cigarette in your hand and watching the smoke come out of your mouth," Brickley.

The electronic cigarette fulfilled both of those habits.

"Smoking is a dirty habit: burning clothes, dirty ashtrays, your kids yelling at you because you smell funny. You can get rid of all of those immediately with [electronic cigarettes]," Brickley said.

Brickley was so impressed with the E-cigs, he decided to sell them at his tanning salon. In about four weeks, Brickley's sold around 40 starter kits. Each kit costs $79.99 and contains two batteries, five nicotine cartridges and two battery chargers.

While it's a larger cost to get started, Brickely said in the long run he spends about one tenth of what he spent on tobacco cigarettes on his E-cigs.

Refill nicotine cartridges come in a four pack for $12. The four cartridges are said to be equal to six packs of regular cigarettes. The Electronic Cigarette Association said the average price of a pack of cigarettes in the United States is $6. That would mean the equivalent of four nicotine cartridges would cost $36 in tobacco cigarettes.

"People who buy these from us have been smoking for many years. This is just one alternative for them," Lehman said.

But, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hasn't approved electronic cigarettes and said they aren't safe.

"The FDA hasn't really tested it and hasn't measured how much nicotine [the cigarettes] deliver, so really you can't say they're safe," Dr. John Crawford of Parkview Oncology said. "But, they're probably safer than regular cigarettes."

The cancer-causing chemicals in cigarettes come from the tobacco burning, not the nicotine. The smokeless cigarettes take out the tobacco, but one FDA study still found trace amounts of some toxic chemicals found in tobacco in some of the electronic cigarette nicotine cartridges.

"If it turns out those abnormal compounds are at such a low level that they don't cause a problem, it would be better than smoking cigarettes," Crawford said.

But, Crawford added that if people just want a nicotine fix, patches and gum have been FDA approved for a while and are safe.

Crawford, a former Fort Wayne City Councilman, was instrumental in getting the city's smoking ban passed. The ban went into effect in 2007 and bans smoking in all public places. Crawford said the electronic cigarettes don't violate that ban.

"We aren't burning anything, and we certainly aren't burning or smoking tobacco," he said. "To me, it's not a whole lot different than someone walking in with a nicotine patch. They get the nicotine, but they aren't hurting you."

The FDA also expressed concerns that the electronic cigarettes can increase nicotine addiction. There aren't laws about age limits to buy the electronic cigarettes, and the FDA said that can be a "gateway" for children and teens to get hooked on nicotine and then try tobacco products.

Even though they aren't required to, Tropical Illusions will only sell E-cigs to people over age 18. Brickley added the initial cost would be deterrent for teens trying to buy them.

The flavors of the electronic cigarettes also would make them more marketable for young people, the FDA argued. But, Brickley countered that he doesn't like the taste of tobacco even though he's addicted to nicotine, and he enjoys the flavors.

"As soon as R.J. Reynolds makes 'E-Winstons' things will calm down," Brickley said. "Nothing is 100 percent safe, but these are definitely better than smoking tobacco."

The Electronic Cigarette Association said around one million Americans use electronic cigarettes. They were developed in China five years ago, but were introduced to the United States two years ago. Since then, the market has been growing exponentially as sales are expected to go from $10 million last year to $100 million this year. 

An ECA spokeswoman added the typical electronic cigarette user is a 44-year-old man who smokes an average of 2.5 packs of cigarettes a day and has smoked for around 13 years.