31

I am of course referring to the craze for e-cigarettes. At the risk of talking about something I know virtually nowt about (see also Windbag issues 1-30 for other examples of this behavior) I'm finding this phenomenon quite interesting.

Of course e-cigarettes have been around for a little while but I think the whole thing is starting to gain critical mass. I've started noticing people everywhere partaking of them. Some kind of look like cigarettes whilst another common type looks quite like a pen - which always makes me double take when I see someone sucking on one as they walk down the street.

So as far as I can tell these devices are legal (at the moment) and give users their nicotine fix without tar, carbon monoxide and other nasties. The output is mainly water vapour with a slight aroma but nothing as pronounced as the odour from cigs. Mind you things might change when you are a room with 40 or 50 vapers. Currently I've only been around 1 or 2 at the same time.

Due to a lack of rigorous scientific tests or trials there are question marks over the healthiness or otherwise of these devices. It would seem likely though that these things are less deadly than real cigarettes. Certainly they are much less unpleasant for passive smokers (ie those of us who aren't nicotine junkies - people such as myself).

I would also guess there is a financial saving around these devices for the addict. Presumably the taxes that apply to tobacco aren't currently applied to these things.

One thing that I'm not convinced of is the use of these things as a way of kicking the nicotine habit all together. Instead I get the impression that these things are cigarette replacements.

So if they are cheaper, less harmful to your lungs and don't make you pong but still give you your nicotine fix. Its hard to understand why anybody wouldn't switch.

Of course the tobacco companies could be big losers in all this (although I've heard rumours that they are big players in the e-cigarette market). To be honest I'd find it hard to shed even crocodile tears for an industry that sells death so blatantly. I know people would lose their jobs but lets be honest that's a fact of life these days. If thousands of people are spared a premature death from lung cancer would that not be a price worth paying?

The other big loser would be the government in terms of tax from ciggies. Once again I think this has to be seen as a price worth paying. I'm sure I've read plenty of times that the tax from tobacco doesn't cover the cost to the NHS of treating smokers. Mind you another of the banes of the NHS is an ageing population living too long and without tobacco induced euthanasia this could well get worse!

There may be other unexpected impacts as well. For example a national increase in productivity when all the shirkers hanging out in the smoker's shelter are allowed to vape at their desks.

The only thing that can go wrong is an unholy alliance of vested interests between big business and the government to screw more money out of the situation. The argument will probably be around the risk of e-cigarettes luring young people into smoking actual cigarettes (ignoring the fact that the tobacco industry has been doing this more directly for many years). Leading to restrictions and tax for 'health reasons'. 

Anyway I'm genuinely interested to see how this goes. When I was a lad it was common to see pipe smokers. Nowadays they are virtually extinct. Could the same be true of cigarette smokers soon?

**

Give this song a listen. Its by an Aussie called Courtney Barnett. The likes of NME and Mojo have given it the thumbs up. Not sure why I like it but there's a certain weird quirkiness to it.  

Back Issues

Send your comments, articles, insults, poetry, pictures, outpourings of love etc

Click above to go and like this on Facebook

The Credits