By Ron Smith
http://stream.publicbroadcasting.net/production/mp3/wkms/local-wkms-953260.mp3
Murray, KY – We live in an ever-growing "e-world,' from e-mail to e-bay and countless other "e" products and services. Kentucky Public Radio's Ron Smith reports that one relatively new "e" item, the e-cigarette, is delivering nicotine hits and plenty of controversy.
It doesn't take an advanced degree to smoke a cigarette.
Hold, light, inhale. But there's a new way to light up these days, which doesn't require lighting up at all. It's the electronic, or e-cigarette
"just hold the button down, like a regular draw, just like a regular cigarette."
Rick Prewitt of Richmond took up e-smoking in hopes of reducing his pack a day tobacco habit. We're not using his full name because Prewitt doesn't want his kids to know he smokes.
The devices are metal tubes designed to look like real cigarettes. They typically contain a cartridge filled with a nicotine-laced liquid vaporized by a battery-powered heating element. A "puff" on the device delivers a fine mist of nicotine into the lungs. A television commercial for one manufacturer boasts
"no tobacco, no tar, no more smelly clothes, no ash, and no more guilt."
Rick Prewitt says a one-month experiment with his e-cigarette provided all those benefits, plus they cut his desire to smoke and slashed the money he shells out for traditional cigarettes. Prewitt bought his device from a Madison County tobacco outlet but they're widely available at shopping malls and especially on the internet.
Judging from the tv ads, e-cigarettes would seem to fulfill a smoker's dreams. But the U-S Food and Drug Administration says many questions must be answered before it approves their use. The FDA hasn't evaluated the devices for their safety or effectiveness but says preliminary tests indicate the products may contain ingredients toxic to humans.
Kelly Owens, who's a tobacco prevention and cessation specialist for the Madison County Health Department complains about claims by e-cigarette makers that their product helps smokers quit. Owens says there's no evidence of that. In fact, scientists say frequent doses of vapor-inhaled nicotine may actually deepen addiction to the drug.
Additionally, she's disturbed by what e-cigarette makers aren't saying:
"These cartridges can contain several chemicals in addition to the nicotine alone, that they claim. The manufacturers of these haven't fully disclosed the chemical combinations included in their manufacture what is produced during the electronic vaporization."
Tv ads describe the product of that vaporization as harmless:
"And the smoke you're exhaling is just water vapor."
That's not so, says State Representative Susan Westrom of Lexington...
"Sounds like it's a wonderful business that knows how to do their marketing by enticement. It's no different than a company that has all natural supplements that allows you to eat five thousand calories a day and lose weight while you do that. They don't have to prove what they're saying, they don't have to have science behind it because it's an unregulated industry."
Bolstering the anti-e-cigarette case is the Kentucky Center for Smoke-free Policy. It charges the second hand vapor emitted by e-cigarettes "likely" contains nicotine, carcinogens and other harmful substances.
Westrom regrets e-cigarettes were not tested before they hit the market. Also making her anxious is that many e-cigarettes come from China, which Westrom notes, once illegally sent America tons of tainted toys
"They broke those protocols and sent us millions and millions and millions of toys that had lead in them far beyond the levels we would allow in our country, knowing that as manufacturers that's what our requirements are. Why would we think that they would give a hoot what type of toxins the Americans are inhaling with these cigarettes as long as they're making the money from them?"
Qualifiers like "may' and "likely" are not good enough for John Metzker, owner of the Smoker's Section" in Richmond, where he says business is booming
"Oh, it's phenomenal, literally, I can't keep enough inventory in stock."
Metzker sees himself as supplying a safe, legal product to people who want to kick a nasty habit, or who want the smoking experience without the health risks. He strongly believes in the information printed on his product which claims it only releases water and nicotine.
"I'm not going to worry about critics, I'm going to worry about the reports, the actual reports that document, yes it does have this, no it doesn't have that. I'm not the type of person that likes to follow critics, I like to follow science, fact. And to this point you feel comfortable with the facts as you know them then? Very much so, yes."
The e-cigarette brand Metzker carries contains the warning "not to be sold to minors", which the smoke shop owner claims he strictly enforces. That pledge is cold comfort to Representative Westrom
"Well isn't that ironic? They don't think they need the science but then all of a sudden they get a conscience and say well, okay, we don't have the science but we'll just say, don't sell these to children, adults can still make their own decision."
Because e-cigarettes are not regulated, some are sold to kids. Making the devices more appealing to minors is they come in a variety of flavors like chocolate and strawberry. Critics worry e-cigarettes could serve as training wheels' for youngsters who want to share in the mystique of smoking but are banned from tobacco.
Dozens of Kentucky communities have smoke-free regulations. But only two, Glasgow and Bardstown, regulate e-cigarettes. Westrom wants a statewide ban on smoking in or near the entrances of workplaces and public places .a ban which would also apply to e-cigarettes.
Concern about e-cigarettes goes far beyond Kentucky. New Jersey and other states, all domestic airlines and some U-S military bases have acted on their own to restrict or ban e-cigarette use.
A federal judge in January barred Obama administration attempts to regulate e-cigarettes or stop their importation, saying the product is a recreational tobacco product, although e-cigarettes contain no tobacco. The FDA argues it should have control over the products because it's their job to treat people suffering from nicotine withdrawal, making them a combination drug and device, which they have regulated for years.
Meanwhile, Rick Prewitt, the Richmond smoker, has kicked the e-cigarette habit. A visit to the FDA website raised enough doubt to convince him to throw his device in his desk drawer
"They basically said it's not safe or they do not know it's not safe so it kind of scared me, thinking you know this could come from anywhere so I actually quit using it because of that."
But Prewitt is still not out of the addiction woods. Following the e-cigarette experience, he returned to traditional cigarettes, though he insists he smokes less than before.