Electronic Cigarettes: Our Position

Background: Electronic inhalers (EI’s) are devices that are gaining enormous popularity in the US and the world. The units go by a number of different names: electronic cigarettes (or e-cigarettes) electronic vaping devices personal vaporizers (PV) electronic nicotine delivery systems (ENDS) These devices use a liquid solution (juice) which is heated to vaporize and then inhaled. Some of the liquids contain nicotine, while some merely release flavored vapor.  Nicotine levels in the liquids vary between preparations.  Tobacco is not used in e-cigarettes, though tobacco companies are investing heavily in EI’s. E-cigarettes are often designed to mimic traditional smoking implements, such as cigarettes or pipes, in their use and/or appearance, although more and more devices are designed not to imitate them, in an attempt to develop a different culture of user. In a recent edition of the Medical Letter® (Volume 54, [...]

E-cigs fire up controversy

Timothy Magaw for Crain's Cleveland Charlie Lardomita has been an off-and-on smoker since he was about 16 years old. And while it's only been two months since he lit up, the 38-year-old IT executive thinks this time he's kicked the habit for good. Forget the patch or nicotine gum. Mr. Lardomita swears by his electronic cigarette, a device that could be described as the lovechild of RoboCop and Joe Camel. He has made believers — or “vapors” — out of a handful of his friends who've since dropped traditional smokes. He even has dreamt of opening a vapor lounge — a one-stop shop and haven for e-cig connoisseurs — near his home in Kirtland. “I'm so into them it's ridiculous,” said Mr. Lardomita, chief technology officer for International Excess Alliance in Richmond Heights, a wholesaler of property, casualty and other [...]