What did I see this guy on the street doing?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I saw something the other day that seemed weird to me and I can’t explain it but maybe I am just out of the loop. Here it is:

I saw a guy, looked to be in his mid to late twenties standing in front of a Trader Joe’s. He was holding…something. It looked like a screw driver with a long handle and a short top piece but not that short. Just shorter than a screw driver would have. Out of the top vapor was coming off the tip. I saw him inhale some of the vapor. He didn’t hold the device like a cigarette, more like a microphone but near his nose. He called over a girl (who apparently worked at the TJ and was putting carts back at the time) and I think she also breathed in the vapor. At this point I had walked past and couldn’t see them anymore.

This was a busy shopping center at lunch time so I can’t believe what they were doing was drug related (at least illegal drugs). I feel like I aged a hundred years in a day because I was just very confused. Anyone know what I might have seen from that description?

2

He was “vaping,” smoking an e-cigarette. That device uses a battery-powered heating element to vaporize a flavored, nicotine-containing liquid, which the user then puffs.

It’s currently skyrocketing in popularity, as it is a less-harmful alternative to smoking.

3

Are ecigs used like the OP described- held to the nose and the vapor inhaled- or like a regular cigarette (in the mouth and smoke is drawn in)?

I’ve never seen one in use before.

4

They’re inhaled through the mouth, but many (maybe most) vapers hold them more like a microphone. There’s no lit cherry or ash to worry about, and holding it that way helps conceal it for use in the places where it isn’t legal (e.g. bars, businesses).

5

I never would have guessed! Thanks!

6

I don’t think the OP meant that the guy was vaping through his nose (which I understand is possible but not all that popular). I think he was just holding it weird.

7

Don’t be so sure it was just nicotine. The device would look identical either way. That he was sharing would seem to lend support to the possibility. The fact that they’re indistinguishable out of the quite narrow odor-range makes them convenient to use right out in the open without eliciting (or “illiciting”) attention.

8

I thought he was putting it to his nose but I could have been wrong. I honestly thought E-Cigarettes looked like slightly larger cigarettes. This is illuminating.

9

E-cigarettes come in a wide variety of styles.
Some of the images in my link show people smoking them in the manner you described.

And as voltaire said, they can be used for things other than nicotine.

10

My bad. I misunderstood. I’ve never seen anyone nose-vaping before. (Well, now I have, since I looked it up on youtube.)