Where There's Smoke ...

What I See                           “ E-cigarettes have become a source of consternation for anti-smoking lawmakers who quiver at the very thought of someone lighting up a tobacco product.  This knee-jerk reaction to the dramatic increase in the use of e-cigarettes in public is manifesting itself in places like Los Angeles opting to treating e-cigarettes as if they were tobacco.  The fear of second hand smoke amongst those who have waged a legislative war on tobacco is one of the guiding principles behind these governmental prohibitions with the City of Los Angeles even going so far as to prohibit using e-cigarettes in outdoor public places and parks. But what is the truth about the vapor emitted from using e-cigarettes?     In order to understand this issue, one needs to understand that e-cigarettes do not involve lighting a paper wrapped tobacco product and pulling the smoke through into your lungs, as is the case with actual cigarettes. Electronic cigarettes on the other hand are not lit, and are essentially little more than a plastic tube which turns nicotine into a flavored vapor that can be consumed by a user.  The vapor does not contain any of the characteristics of a burning cigarette.  Whereas a cigarette left burning in an ash tray produces a haze that lingers throughout a room or building, the vapor from the e-cigarette doesn't have the same effect, as it doesn't emit vapor unless it is being used by a consumer. When being used, the e-cigarette vapor is only emitted into the atmosphere when the consumer exhales.  The e-cigarette vapor itself has been found to be primarily comprised of nicotine, propylene glycol, glycerin, water and flavors.  This is an important distinction between the vapor exhaled by an e-cigarette user and a tobacco smoker.   Blah-Blah-Blah I think our great problem as a nation is a sense of  having no personal identity; a sense that we are really just a bump in a statistics table.   I think it explains the recent tattoo obsession;  a way of  expressing individuality, achievement and rank.   I think it may explain the over-the-top eco, vegan, global warming, and other silliness ne plus ultra.  We need God. We need a sense of mission.  Eric Hoffer observed that people with no sense of self worth will look for a movement to latch onto.  It will be their religion, and they willing martyrs in its defense.  That's what I think about this electronic cigarette silliness. People trying to leave a footprint in a pail of water. ”