Can You Vape In Non-Smoking Areas?

[Werekoala]

Mencken was right, as usual.

[DiosaBellissima]

@Doug_K

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.

Adding to this, I was at a show in Vegas and while we were waiting for the lights to go down, I started looking around for the source of an awful smell. Lo and behold, the guy in front of me and over a bit had an e-cig. His not only smelled, but it lit up and made a weirdly loud noise when he sucked on it. This ended up being a distraction throughout the show-- not just for me, but other people kept looking over.

[Harvey_The_Heavy]

I’ve been trying to work up the nerve to use one of the real looking ones the next time I’m at the gas pump, but I’m afraid I’ll make someone really wig out.

[bob_2]

They can cause big problems:

A fake cigarette prompted armed police to swoop on a coach on the M6 Toll road and close the motorway for more than four hours.

Forty eight passengers on the Megabus Preston to London service were led off the coach and forced to sit apart in a cordon on the opposite carriageway.

The road was closed near Lichfield before police said they were no longer treating the incident as suspicious.

Fake cigarette caused M6 police Megabus coach swoop

[JustinC]

@Doug_K

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 noticeable from two or three rows away.

Are you sure there wasn’t someone smoking a real cigarette/spliff nearby?

@Dallas_Jones

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.

How about drinking coffee? Is caffeine addiction something which should be taken outside? I wouldn’t mind; taking a break from your desk every once in a while is good for your efficiency.

@bob_2

They can cause big problems:

Fake cigarette caused M6 police Megabus coach swoop - BBC News

I hope the military personnel, police dog handlers, firefighters and other specialist units weren’t needed for something a bit more serious. Sheesh.

[Jackmannii]

@Werekoala

Mencken was right, as usual.

Sartre nailed it.

[WhyNot]

@Jackmannii

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.

Good. So next month when I make my final “step-down” to nicotine free liquid, I assume you’ll have no problem with my vaping in public, as it’s not delivering a drug?

The FDA has decided that they’re going to be subject to FDA regulation; at the moment they are not. Furthermore, we don’t yet know at what level of regulation that might be. Note the “therapeutic purposes” terminology. It may be that ecigs/vaporizers that continue to not make health claims, or that don’t contain nicotine, will not fall under full drug FDA regulation, just as black tea doesn’t. Lots of people don’t agree with them assuming regulatory control, and statements are being gathered and we have no idea how it will all play out yet. So appealing to FDA authority may fly in a few months or years, but at the moment, it doesn’t.

I try not to be a jerk in reality. If it’s making people uncomfortable, I will either refrain, join the smokers, or provide education as to what that weird looking thing is, and that no, that’s not hash oil in there. And once explained, I’ve never yet had anyone say anything other than, “That’s pretty cool! And you don’t want cigarettes at all anymore? Good for you!”

[ombre12]

I think there are flavored e-cigs (cherry etc.) that probably do emit an odor. Maybe a good smell or maybe disgusting depending on the flavor added.

I’ve been trying unflavored with nicotine e-cigs for a while and no one has complained about any odor.

Even my wife who would complain outside when I was smoking a real cig 20 feet away from her that she could smell it and made her nauseous. She has one great smeller.

[Grrr]

I’m highly suspicious of people claiming they can smell E-cig vapors.

I’ve opened entire bottles of E-cig liquid and was barely able to smell it. Someone saying they could smell it from some guy vaping several feet away sounds like crazy talk to me.

And even crazier, is the assertion the E-cigs do not reduce health risk or reduce the urge to smoke. Health wise, I can tell you, I feel 20 years younger since I gave up cigarettes for E-cigs some 5 months ago. Since that time, there hasn’t been a single day where I woke up with the coughing fits. Before then, it was a daily occurrence.

Jesus man, you’d think decent people would be happy now that millions of people have found a healthier option to their addiction. But nope, they’re more content to hate. Go figure.

[Doug_K]

@Shakes

I’m highly suspicious of people claiming they can smell E-cig vapors.

I’ve opened entire bottles of E-cig liquid and was barely able to smell it. Someone saying they could smell it from some guy vaping several feet away sounds like crazy talk to me.

And even crazier, is the assertion the E-cigs do not reduce health risk or reduce the urge to smoke. Health wise, I can tell you, I feel 20 years younger since I gave up cigarettes for E-cigs some 5 months ago. Since that time, there hasn’t been a single day where I woke up with the coughing fits. Before then, it was a daily occurrence.

Jesus man, you’d think decent people would be happy now that millions of people have found a healthier option to their addiction. But nope, they’re more content to hate. Go figure.

Here’s the thing: You used to smoke until 5 months ago. Now you use e-cigarettes. You have thoroughly desensitized yourself to the smell. It’s no different than the person who bathes in perfume and insists that if they can’t smell it, no one else can either.

[UltraVires]

@Shakes

I’m highly suspicious of people claiming they can smell E-cig vapors.

I’ve opened entire bottles of E-cig liquid and was barely able to smell it. Someone saying they could smell it from some guy vaping several feet away sounds like crazy talk to me.

And even crazier, is the assertion the E-cigs do not reduce health risk or reduce the urge to smoke. Health wise, I can tell you, I feel 20 years younger since I gave up cigarettes for E-cigs some 5 months ago. Since that time, there hasn’t been a single day where I woke up with the coughing fits. Before then, it was a daily occurrence.

Jesus man, you’d think decent people would be happy now that millions of people have found a healthier option to their addiction. But nope, they’re more content to hate. Go figure.

Agree fully. I think either the anti e-cig people either truly don’t understand how these devices work or they simply enjoy the superior feeling of not having a nicotine addiction and will continue to look down on those who do.

As I said, you know “those” people who can smell cig smoke from two miles away and say it kills them? I can blow the vapor in their face (with permission of course) and they have no complaints at all. As was said, maybe it is strawberry flavor and someone might not like strawberry, but that is simply a personal preference and not a health issue.

[Crazier_Catlady]

I’m one of those people who deeply loathe the smell of sigarettes. I’ve also been in the same room with someone who was vaping and never smelled a thing. But that may very well depend on the brand and flavor of the e-cig. Anyway, I do enthousiastically applaud anything that helps remove the smell of real cigs from the atmosphere, so as far as I’m concerned: keep on vaping.

[Cat_Whisperer]

There must be different smells for different e-cigs - there was someone smoking one in front of us at a concert a few months ago, and it smelled basically like pipe smoke (not unpleasant at all, really), but if you tried to tell me that that was completely unscented, you’d be wrong.

[GESancMan]

I’ve been vaping for two and a half years now, after smoking for like 27 years. My sense of smell still hasn’t come back, so I can’t speak from personal experience, but I too am skeptical that e-cigs “stink.” My girlfriend can smell things from miles away, and it’s uncommon that she smells my vapor; when she does, it’s “oooh, that smells good, what flavor is that?”

I’ve tried many different types of juice from many vendors, but I haven’t tried them all (obviously), so perhaps someone out there makes a juice that smells bad. I don’t know why they would, though, or why they would stay in business long if they did.

[clairobscur]

@jtgain

Agree fully. I think either the anti e-cig people either truly don’t understand how these devices work or they simply enjoy the superior feeling of not having a nicotine addiction and will continue to look down on those who do.
.

@Cat_Whisperer

There must be different smells for different e-cigs - there was someone smoking one in front of us at a concert a few months ago, and it smelled basically like pipe smoke (not unpleasant at all, really), but if you tried to tell me that that was completely unscented, you’d be wrong.

Many e-cigs are tobacco flavoured. It might be the issue.
Flavoured cigarettes (fruit, chocolate, rhum, whatever…there’s a great variety of them) have a scent ranging from barely noticeable to quite strong. I guess that some people might dislike those scents even though they’re weaker than scented products people use in their houses, cars, etc… without anybody raising an eyebrow.
Non flavoured e-cigs don’t smell at all IME. I guess it’s conceivable that some brands could smell of something, but I doubt it.

[Jeff_Lichtman]

@obfusciatrist

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.

I was at an A’s game where an usher stopped a guy from doing it. It could be that they don’t have a clear policy about it at the Coliseum. In this case the vapor seemed to be bothering the people around the “smoker” - he wasn’t being discrete about it at all - so maybe that was the basis for the usher’s actions.

[Mangetout]

@Shakes

I’m highly suspicious of people claiming they can smell E-cig vapors.

I’ve opened entire bottles of E-cig liquid and was barely able to smell it. Someone saying they could smell it from some guy vaping several feet away sounds like crazy talk to me.

Are you sure you’re comparing apples with apples? One thing is a bottle, the other thing is a device specifically made to vaporise the liquid. I wouldn’t expect them to be the same.

[Mangetout]

@jtgain

E-cigs are only targeted for banning because they have the word “cigarette” in their name. The similarity ends there. It’s water vapor.

Is it just water vapour? How so? It seems highly unlikely that the lungs of the person using it are scrubbing all of the other components out of it and just leaving the water vapour.

[Grrr]

@Mangetout

Are you sure you’re comparing apples with apples? One thing is a bottle, the other thing is a device specifically made to vaporise the liquid. I wouldn’t expect them to be the same.

Neither would I. The stuff in the bottle is in a concentrated form and about 15ml. A vape cloud is not only diluted but a very minute fraction of 15ml. So small, in fact, that I’m hesitant to guess.

I would think the concentrated stuff being in a lot higher volume would be stinkier.

[Mangetout]

@Shakes

Neither would I. The stuff in the bottle is in a concentrated form and about 15ml. A vape cloud is not only diluted but a very minute fraction of 15ml. So small, in fact, that I’m hesitant to guess.

I would think the concentrated stuff being in a lot higher volume would be stinkier.

I would think the opposite - the stuff being in a dispersed vapour would be stinkier, because dispersed vapours are precisely what our noses detect as ‘smell’. You don’t smell the volume of something - you smell the vapour coming off it.