e cigarette

e cigarette

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SEBRING - Jim Narbone tells the story of a man who used an electronic cigarette in a restaurant. The LED tip glowed red, and the man exhaled what looked like smoke.

"People across the restaurant were upset," said Narbone, the manager of Bebe's Tobacco, a shop beside Sweetbay grocery in south Sebring. They thought he was smoking a cigarette.

In fact, it's an e-cigarette, which uses a lithium ion battery to deliver a nicotine solution without the tar and the other carcinogens and toxins.

The man was exhaling atomized air. What looked like smoke were tiny water particles, colorless, almost odorless, containing nicotine and propylene glycol (a propane-alcohol gel).

Narbone was extolling the virtues of the ECig, an innovation of his boss, Ray Kahoud. Kahoud, who owns East Coast tobacco shops, will be in Sebring from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m. Friday to demonstrate the ECig.

Health and history

According to the Los Angeles Times, Hon Lik, a Chinese smoker whose father died of cancer, invented the e-cigarette and patented it in 2003. The Ruyan - Chinese for "like smoke" - is planning a push in the United States. A disposable e-cigarette called the Jazz ($25 for the equivalent of five packs) has hit 7-Elevens in Dallas-Fort Worth. Rival versions, made in China, are also making their way to America, many over the Internet.

Narbone has sold 16 ECigs in the past 10 days.

So far, e-cigarettes are allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as long as Ruyan doesn't claim the drug is a medicine and it isn't sold as a cigarette alternative like nicotine gum, nicotine patches, inhalers and lozenges.

"It is not a smoking cessation device," Narbone said. However, he pointed out, the e-cigarette does satisfy nicotine cravings without producing second-hand smoke and without endangering the health of others. Even so, the World Health Organization doesn't consider it to be a legitimate therapy for smokers trying to quit.

In Australia, the sale of electronic cigarettes containing nicotine is illegal. In Austria and Denmark, electronic cigarettes are considered medical devices. In the United Kingdom, electronic cigarette use is unrestricted.

In March 2009, Health Canada called for the immediate cessation of imports, sales, and advertising of electronic smoking products containing nicotine, and advised Canadians not to purchase or use any electronic smoking products.

Kahoud's version looks less like a real cigarette, which Narbone thinks is good. Both have a blue LED tip instead of red, so it won't be confused the real thing, which would be illegal to smoke in public buildings. The Ambassador has a black barrel and battery cover, the Diplomat has a white barrel and brown battery cover. Both have disposable black tips, about the same size and shape found on cigarellos.

Ambassadors and Diplomats - which sell for $125 - come with two flavored cartridges such as mint, menthol, cherry, coffee, chocolate, clove, orange, pineapple and licorice. Other e-cigarette cartridges resemble traditional cigarette types, such as Marlboro or Camel.

Each disposable cartridge - which come with high, medium and zero nicotine - equals 300 puffs, or one pack of cigarettes. Replacement tips are $12.50.

"The electronic cigarette is not a proven nicotine replacement therapy," said Dr. Ala Alwan, assistant director-general of WHO's Noncommunicable Diseases and Mental Health Cluster. "WHO has no scientific evidence to confirm the product's safety."

Health Canada is advising Canadians not to purchase or use electronic smoking products which have not been fully evaluated for safety and quality. Nicotine is a highly addictive and toxic substance, and the inhalation of propylene glycol is a known irritant, the agency said.

"I'm more concerned about the 600 carcinogens in the average cigarette, but it is an addictive substance and you are inhaling it into your lungs, and I'm not sure we have any data that tell us what happens with chronic inhalation of nicotine," Washington Hospital Center's Dr. Mark Soberman told ABC.

There is a safety device, Narbone said. If an Ecig is used too frequently, it will shut down for 10 to 15 minutes.

E-cigarettes use a rechargeable battery to activate a heating coil that quickly heats nicotine suspended in a propylene glycol solution, which in some models is soaked into a soft fabric cartridge, until it vaporizes. The user inhales the vapor just as if he were smoking a cigarette and exhales a white mist that resembles smoke or steam.

Prices range from about $60 to $240 when extra cartridges and flavoring options such as mint or fruit flavors are included.

The device comes in several styles — some, like Spencer’s, resemble an ink pen with a mouthpiece while others look like a pipe or a regular cigarette. Some light up orange or green at the tip when in use.

None of them burn tobacco or, Spencer said, any illegal substance.