E-Cigarettes Still Have Health Hazards

It’s been seven years since electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) hit the U.S. market and the number of smokers using them has steadily increased. Today, one out of five smokers -- an estimated 9 million Americans -- smoke e-cigarettes either exclusively or in addition to the light-it-with-a-match variety. E-cigarettes have a similar look and feel to the real thing, minus the actual tobacco and smoke. It’s a mechanical version of a cigarette -- the tip even lights up to mimic burning ash -- with a battery that heats up a cartridge of liquid nicotine solution to create vapor you can inhale for a nicotine fix. Problem is, e-cigarettes aren’t actually a healthy alternative to smoking. Unlike other nicotine products like cigarettes, chewing tobacco and dip snuff, e-cigarettes don’t carry any health warnings, but that doesn’t mean they are less harmful (which 70 percent of smokers believe). Because the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) isn’t yet regulating the product, manufacturers don’t have to disclose what chemicals are used in the nicotine solutions or potential health risks. “Because there are so few well-designed studies on e-cigarettes, there are a lot of unknowns about their use and safety,” says Cheryl Healton, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of Legacy, a nonprofit anti-tobacco organization in Washington, D.C. Before you decide to light up virtually, here’s a look at what we know about e-cigarettes: They may cause cancer. Just because you’re not ‘puffing’ on a real cigarette doesn’t mean you’re no longer at risk for cancer. A 2009 analysis discovered antifreeze and other carcinogens and toxic chemicals in e-cigarette nicotine solutions. And eliminating secondhand smoke may be a myth, too: A 2012 study on indoor air found that e-cigarette vapors release carcinogens and toxins like nicotine and formaldehyde into the air. They are not approved as smoking cessation tools. There’s no scientific evidence that e-cigarettes will help people stop smoking, which is why the FDA and the World Health Organization view them as tobacco alternatives, not smoking cessation tools. Boston psychiatrist Keith Ablow, M.D., disagrees. “I’ve seen two-pack-a-day smokers quit after a week or two with e-cigarettes,” says Ablow, who is currently studying how e-cigarettes help many smokers kick the habit. E-cigarette cartridges have varying nicotine levels so users can gradually reduce exposure and curb nicotine cravings, says Ablow. The actual device may satisfy a behavioral need to simulate the act of smoking. They may entice kids to smoke. E-cigarettes, which come in yummy, kid-friendly flavors like bubblegum and cola, aren’t subjected to age verification laws. Only five states -- California, Minnesota, New Hampshire, New Jersey and Utah -- prohibit selling them to minors. They may get former smokers addicted again. Former smokers beware; this is not a case of have your cake and eat it, too. E-cigarettes will get you hooked again – they still deliver highly-addictive nicotine, which is what made you a slave to smoking in the first place. Even so-called nicotine-free cartridges aren’t a safe alternative because studies have detected low levels of nicotine in them. “Picking up these devices is like playing with fire,” says Healton. “If you’ve managed to quit, stay quit.” And don’t rely on e-cigarettes to help you quit smoking. If you want to quit (or know someone who does) visit SmokeFree.gov for information about programs that are scientifically proven to work.

E-Cigarettes Fire Up Investors, Regulators

A group including Silicon Valley entrepreneur Sean Parker is investing $75 million in a leading maker of electronic cigarettes, part of a wave of money firing up a market that is under increasing regulatory scrutiny. The market for e-cigarettes—battery-powered devices that turn heated, nicotine-laced liquid into vapor—is small but growing rapidly, in part because they are increasingly seen as less harmful than conventional cigarettes. Mr. Parker, who co-founded the music-sharing site Napster and was the first president of Facebook Inc., is part of an investment group acquiring a minority stake in Scottsdale, Ariz.-based NJOY Inc., one of dozens of e-cigarette companies that have surfaced since 2006. "There's a huge opportunity to transition the entire world away from dangerous, carcinogenic, combating cigarettes," said Mr. Parker, who has been a big donor to cancer research, in an interview. E-cigarettes, unlike traditional smokes, currently aren't federally regulated. The Food and Drug Administration warned consumers in 2009 the new technology could pose its own health risks and required further study. The agency has said it is planning regulations that would treat them as tobacco products, but has provided no details. In an interview last week, FDA tobacco czar Mitch Zeller described the e-cigarette market as "the wild, wild West" in terms of regulation. More than a dozen states, including Arkansas, Colorado and Maryland, have banned e-cigarette sales to minors. New Jersey, North Dakota and Utah have outlawed their use in enclosed public spaces. A bill approved by California's state senate in May would bring e-cigarettes under smoke-free laws covering public buildings, workplaces and restaurants. Boston, Seattle and Indianapolis have extended their smoking bans to the devices. Airlines don't allow e-cigarettes, nor do Amtrak or Starbucks Corp. SBUX +0.56% For current smokers, e-cigarettes are believed to be less harmful than traditional smokes, which release most of their toxins through combustion. But some studies indicate nicotine, the addictive agent in cigarettes and in the new devices, may harm fetuses. The long-term impact of inhaling e-cigarette vapor, which contains other substances such as propylene glycol, has yet to be determined. Among the questions faced by federal regulators: Could e-cigarettes, which currently offer flavors such as chocolate, strawberry and piña colada, serve as a gateway to traditional cigarettes for young people? Will longtime smokers use them only to get a nicotine fix where regular smoking is banned? What kind of age restrictions and warnings should they carry? And what about advertising? The FDA's Mr. Zeller declined to comment on what future regulations might look like or when they will be proposed. E-cigarette sellers aren't currently allowed to make health or smoking cessation claims. The European Union also is considering limits on e-cigarette sales, and France's health minister said last month the government would impose the same curbs on them as on conventional cigarettes. E-cigarettes are already restricted in Mexico, Brazil and several Asian countries. The potential market for e-cigarettes is huge. Despite new regulation of cigarettes and stepped-up public health campaigns urging Americans to quit, nearly one in five American adults still smoke. E-cigarettes more closely mimic smoking than do other smokeless products such as moist snuff or nicotine patches. Industry experts say U.S. retail sales of e-cigarettes could reach $1 billion this year, just 1% of the country's cigarette market but twice that of 2012, as they spread from the Internet to store shelves and generate buzz through television advertisements and celebrity endorsements. Sales of traditional cigarettes have been falling as public-health officials mount graphic advertising campaigns and push to expand bans on smoking in public places, and as federal and state tax increases have raised cigarette prices. NJOY, the company in which Mr. Parker is investing, is a top-selling brand. Although industrywide sales numbers are scarce, NJOY captured 35.6% of the $36.4 million in U.S. convenience-store sales in the four weeks ended May 11, according to Wells Fargo Securities, citing Nielsen scanner data. Lorillard's blu had a 33.9% share, followed by the privately held LOGIC and 21st Century brands, with 13.8% and 7.4%, respectively. Mr. Parker is investing nearly $10 million. Homewood Capital, a New York investment fund headed by Douglas Teitelbaum, is investing nearly $40 million. Boston-based Fidelity Investments is contributing about $25 million. And Founders Fund, a San Francisco venture-capital fund started by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, is kicking in roughly $5 million. Mr. Thiel helped finance the 2005 film "Thank You for Smoking," a satire about the cigarette industry. Mr. Teitelbaum, former head of hedge fund Bay Harbour Management, says he began exploring an investment in e-cigarettes after deciding the category could be a game-changer and that NJOY's product was impressive. "It's clear they have the flavor right, the look and feel of the cigarette right, the branding and packaging right," said Mr. Teitelbaum, who says he smoked traditional cigarettes for more than 30 years before switching to NJOY Kings a few months ago. Unlike many rival e-cigarettes that are made of metal and weigh and look more like fountain pens, NJOY Kings more closely resemble regular cigarettes. The disposable cigarette retails for $7.99 and promises to last roughly as long as two packs of traditional cigarettes. The company has been advertising on TV and has attracted celebrity endorsers such as musicians Courtney Love and Bruno Mars. In March, former U.S. Surgeon General Richard Carmona joined NJOY's board. As the government's top physician, Mr. Carmona had highlighted the dangers of secondhand smoke and supported an outright ban of tobacco products. After joining NJOY, Mr. Carmona said it is important to explore alternatives to traditional cigarettes because the adult smoking rate has remained stuck at around 20%. More study is needed on the health effect of e-cigarettes, he said, but "initial information certainly suggests there is significant potential for harm reduction." He added that e-cigarettes could be another tool to get more people to quit.

E-cigarettes lights up a growing market

Among the forgeries, a manufacturer of electronic cigarette lights up a growing market Great Awakening Steve Milin occurred one day in September 2008. Life-long chain smoker whose parents died of smoking-related causes, Mr. Milin looked at the trash and cigarette butts found four packs of cigarettes. What shook him was the math: Purchase five packs a day, plus medications, smoking-related problems cost him $ 30,000 a year. "I knew that I die not only from my smoking," he says, "I was actually paying to kill yourself." Eight months later, Mr. Milin started Vapor4Life LLC Northbrook-based distributor of "personal vaporizer e-cigarettes." He was initially put in $ 30,000 from savings, but more than three times their investment, as he explored the suppliers in China and the U.S., sales at its site is now up to $ 10 million a year, he says, and employment jumped to 40 with four. The company is profitable, he adds. E-cigarettes were invented by a pharmacist in China in 2003 as a tobacco-free alternative to conventional cigarettes. The device consists of a thin metal cartridge contains a battery. Inside the coil heater "cartomizer" approved by the FDA turns a liquid into a vapor. Users or "vapers" inhaling aromatic vapors as if they were smoking, but there is no smoke, no carcinogens. There is nicotine in the juices, however, at levels set by the user. The electronic cigarette market is highly competitive. So many imitators popped up was that Mr. Milin was forced to fend off imitation flattery, selling their product as the original pair of the King. What distinguishes one from another, Mr. Milin his well-stocked website, where you can buy dozens of flavors of vapers toffee, pancake, and Margaret with menthol, cherry and vanilla, mocha ice. Starter Kits, which include battery, charger, case and electronic cigarettes, cost $ 49.95 to $ 105. He said that he had bought and tried 600 different products before they come up with their device, which, unlike others, did not require a bottle of juice or a backup battery. It uses the same battery manufacturers like Apple, in China, where he spent six months in the modernization of its production last year. Mr. Milin, 53, a graduate of Agricultural Economics from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, has sold almost all his career, jewelry, high quality audio equipment, mortgages, and stocks. While still a teenager, he says, he even helped to sell the Florida swamps in the boiler room, which became the inspiration for David Mamet's "Glengarry Glen Ross." Bill Godshaw, executive director of tobacco smoke in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, welcomed the product, Mr. Milin. "The anti-smoking activist, I have worked to ban smoking for 25 years, and the problem is that the core of the 33 million daily smokers in need of help," he says. "E-cigarettes are a good substitute." Mr. Milin switched to full-time vaping a few weeks after his "trash now." His last two Kool cigarettes are now framed in his office.