I see some smokers switching to e-cigs and/or vaporizers. I haven’t seen anyone try to use on in a non-smoking area, though. Is this accepted?
It depends on the state, and on the establishment.
I don’t think there’s an established blanket policy that covers this yet so it’s best to ask where ever you are.
I’ve seen them do it in just about every non-smoking area, including in airports and even on an airplane. It seems so obnoxious, but very common these days.
It’s my experience that bars and bowling alleys are more open than most to vaping. When in doubt I’ll ask, and if it’s not allowed I revert to my smoking days and take it outside.
Last month I had to take my in-service training at a police academy that’s located inside a tech college. They had signs up announcing their “tobacco free” policy and it stated it including both chewing tobacco and electronic devices.
Are e-cigarettes included in this policy?
Yes. The Food and Drug Administration has regulatory authority over tobacco products and includes e-cigarettes in this classification. As a result, use of e-cigarettes are prohibited on MATC property.
I vaped on an airplane, but there was no one in my row, on either side of the aisle. And I was very discrete.
If the goal is to get your nicotine fix, it’s easy to be so discreet that nobody even knows you have it. If you notice a person using one in a non-smoking area it’s because they’re being jerks and don’t care (even though the water vapor byproduct is harmless and people who make big deals over e-smokes are just being silly).
I’ve been using my e-cig for almost a year and have never been told or asked to quit using it. This includes planes, hospitals, etc.
To include them in a tobacco ban is absurd. We have a product that can literally save lives by getting people to switch over and places want to ban them based on absolutely no evidence of harm to the public.
There is a lack of good evidence that e-cigarettes are an effective smoking cessation product, as well as a lack of evidence that there is no harm to the public from them.
Instead of saying “prove they’re dangerous”, it’d be better if enthusiasts had proof of their safety before expelling their nicotine and additive-laden vapors into enclosed public spaces.
Why are they jerks, then? Wouldn’t the jerk be the person who has an issue with the e-cig?
Because in spite of the fact that it doesn’t hurt anyone, to do it so conspicuously that other people might object is nothing more than yanking other peoples’ chains.
Since other people have no reason to object, I’m not sure why the smoker should make special efforts to hide what he is doing. I don’t get how this is “yanking other people’s chains”.
Because that’s not how laws should work in a free society. People should be allowed to do whatever unless and until the activity is shown to be dangerous to others.
What other activities do we outlaw until they are proven 100% safe?
E-cigs are only targeted for banning because they have the word “cigarette” in their name. The similarity ends there. It’s water vapor. We don’t ban buffet hot plates with steam rising from them. Maybe we should. I haven’t seen studies proving that they are safe!
But seriously, I can testify that for the past 10 months I’ve been using an e-cig, not only have I not wanted a real one, but I PREFER the e-cig. It certainly has assisted me. And my non-smoking “aw God that stinks” friends don’t have the slightest problem with me vaping in their houses and cars.
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The words “vape” and “vaping” are stupid and I judge harshly people who say it. But I’ll accept that this is a personal problem.
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I was at an A’s game a couple months ago and some people a couple rows away were handing one back and forth. An usher came and confirmed what it was and left them alone.
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My experience is that kids like to use them in highly public ways so that they can get a reaction from people who don’t know what they are and get all fake indignant.
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So long as I’m not affected by it, I don’t care at all. That said, if you had a steam table in the seat next to me on BART and it was sending steam my way, I’d be annoyed by that. And I don’t know much about them but at least some aren’t odorless since I learned someone two rows behind me on BART the other day was using one because I was looking around to find the source of the smell (not sure what the smell was but it wasn’t regular cigarette (which I’ve never smelled on BART) or pot (which I have).
Is this the part where you play like you don’t understand what I’m saying?
That other people don’t have any reason to object doesn’t mean that they don’t object. You see, e-cigarettes are still “cigarettes”, even though there is no second-hand smoke and they don’t stink. In fact, they barely have any scent at all. But that doesn’t stop anti-smoking people from making every effort to have them banned and/or object to their usage. Therefore, their usage amounts to a provocation, a virtual demand for said anti-smoking people to object, and knowing that it is a dick thing to provoke said response.
I still fail to see how it is a provocation. Some people might be up in arms about them, but that’s their problem. Users have no reason to hide. Do you refrain yourself from doing in public any thing that someone might object to? Why would you assume that the smoker intend to provoke a response rather than, you know, to smoke? The dick move is throwing a tantrum about them, not using them.
Anecdotally (and unrelated), I was asked not to “vape” at my workplace, not because non-smokers complained, but because it made smokers jealous.
There may be no second hand smoke but they do stink. Similar to obfusciatrist, I recently was at a concert where someone was using one. I wouldn’t have noticed at all had it not been for the stench. It wasn’t as strong as cigarettes, but still noticable from two or three rows away.
E-cigarettes are basically a drug delivery system. As such, it appears that they are subject to FDA regulation.
*"As the safety and efficacy of e-cigarettes have not been fully studied, consumers of e-cigarette products currently have no way of knowing:
whether e-cigarettes are safe for their intended use,
how much nicotine or other potentially harmful chemicals are being inhaled during use, or
if there are any benefits associated with using these products.
Additionally, it is not known if e-cigarettes may lead young people to try other tobacco products, including conventional cigarettes, which are known to cause disease and lead to premature death…
Currently, e-cigarettes that are marketed for therapeutic purposes are regulated by the FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER). The FDA Center for Tobacco Products (CTP) currently regulates
cigarettes,
cigarette tobacco,
roll-your-own tobacco, and
smokeless tobacco.
FDA has stated its intent to issue a proposed rule that would extend FDA’s tobacco product authorities to products that meet the statutory definition of “tobacco product.” For further details, please see the Unified Agenda entry describing this rulemaking: View Rule*
Living in a free society does not mean you can do whatever you want without regard to the safety and comfort of others.
In Oregon the law does not specifically address e-cigs but bars, restaurants and other tobacco free areas are advised to discourage them.
The last guy who tried to argue the point in our local bar was the son of a friend of mine, who was visiting from Ohio. He got his ass 86’d from the bar, to much approval.
At my tobacco-free workplace the approach is the same for all tobacco products. Smokeless tobacco, chew, e-cigs, you must go off the property to the designated smoking area, on your own break or lunch time to use them. Same as for smoking, no difference.
I personally do not want someone blowing their non-smoke nicotine into my breathing space anymore than I want to smell cigarette smoke. There is no difference, take your drug addiction outside.