November 21st, 2013
From: Bloomberg/BusinessWeek
By Brad Stone
Photo illustration by 731; Photographs by Gene Lester/Getty Images; Courtesy of Pax
Like many other Silicon Valley entrepreneurs, James Monsees uses technology to disrupt stodgy industries. Unlike most of his Valley peers, he enjoys describing himself as a tobacco executive, which tends to elicit a mixed response. At a small dinner party recently, a handful of the other guests booed that statement, he says. “Then I explained that we don’t just make tobacco products; we’re trying to bring vaporizers to the marketplace.” The room was more sympathetic to vaporizers, typically electronic pipes that heat liquid to produce an inhalant with lower levels of carcinogens than smoke. “Eventually, they applauded,” Monsees says.
November 14th, 2013
From: New York Daily News
While not much is known about the health effects of electronic cigarettes, many experts agree they are safer than smoking tobacco. Toxicant levels of e-cigs are nine to 450 times lower than cigarette smoke according to some estimates, delegates to a European conference heard Tuesday.
Switching to e-cigarettes could save millions of smokers’ lives, a conference on the rapidly expanding use of the devices heard Tuesday, though some delegates warned more research on the health effects is needed.
The merits of e-cigarettes were thrashed out at a one-day gathering of scientists, experts, policymakers and industry figures at the Royal Society in London.
November 7th, 2013
From: USA Today
Top public health official is worried about new threats to kids from cigarettes.
Liz Szabo
New types of cigarettes and tobacco threaten to addict a new generation of kids, in spite of the country’s overall progress against smoking, said Tom Frieden, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“I really worry about our kids,” Frieden said in an exclusive interview with USA TODAY. “If the next generation gets hooked, you’re talking about a lifetime struggle with addiction.”
October 31st, 2013
From: Convenience Store Decisions
Recent study debunks assertions that e-cigarettes cause more teens to try regular cigarettes.
A recent study shows show a substantial majority of teenagers who have tried an e-cigarette do not go on to begin smoking cigarettes, the National Association of Tobacco Outlets reported.
The results were released during a recent American Association for Cancer Research conference.
The study surveyed 1,300 college students with an average age of 19 about their tobacco and nicotine use. Of the group of students, 43 stated that their first nicotine product was an electronic cigarette, but only one of these 43 students went on to smoke cigarettes. In fact, most respondents who began with an e-cigarette said they were not currently using any nicotine product or tobacco product.
October 24th, 2013
From: KFOR News Channel 4/Oklahoma City
STILLWATER, Okla. — The popularity of electronic cigarettes, or “e-cigarettes”, is booming everywhere.
But Oklahoma State University could soon ban them from campus despite their reputation as being a much healthier alternative to smoking.
E-cigarettes use a small battery to vaporize a liquid solution of nicotine.
There’s no ash and no smoke, but the vapor does give off various odors.
OSU says their intent to ban them is based on a letter from the State Health Department Commissioner, Terry Cline, who said research on e-cigarettes is extremely limited and researchers don’t know the health risk to users or the risk of secondhand vapor.
