As R.J. Reynolds is marketing dissolvable nicotine in mint-like packages, Ruyan Group Ltd., is now marketing electronic cigarettes that will allow people to inject a nicotine-infused mist directly into their lungs. Miao Nan, executive director of Ruyan Group Ltd., insisted that the electronic cigarettes is better for you because it does not produce cigarette smoke — allowing smokers to smoke in movies and smoke-banned areas. Health officials are rising objections over the health claims.
The e-cigarette produces little curlicues of white smoke, but smokers get their nicotine from a mist.
The World Health Organization representative Timothy O’Leary insists “There is not sufficient evidence that (they) are safe products for human consumption.”
Ruyan is a Chinese company formerly known as the Golden Dragon Group. Ruyan means “like smoking” and the company introduce the first electronic cigarette in 2004. The nicotine is dissolved in a cartridge containing propylene glycol. When a person takes a drag on the battery-powered cigarette, the solution is pumped through the atomizer and comes out as an ultrafine spray that resembles smoke. Yummy.
Prices range from about $60 to $240 (batteries and cartridges included) You can not only adjust flavors from fruit to menthol but set the level of nicotine hit from zero to 16 milligrams (which is more than an average cigarette).
Gamucci, a London-based manufacturer, features a woman smoking an e-cig and saying “They look like, feel like and taste like traditional tobacco, yet they aren’t. They are a truly healthier and satisfying alternative. Join the revolution today!”
Ruyan is suing a Beijing newspaper, which questioned its safety and for claiming in 2006 that its products have more nicotine than regular cigarettes.
Some support the company, such as David Sweanor, an adjunct law professor at Ottawa University and former legal counsel of the Non Smokers Rights Association in Canada, who says that e-cigs have the right idea because “it’s the delivery system that’s killing people. Anytime you suck smoke into your lungs you’re going to do yourself a great deal of damage. Nicotine has some slight risks but they are minor compared to the risk of smoke in cigarettes.” Other officials are less enthused about the products and complain that the health benefits have never been studied.
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Up next?
The return of candy cigarettes . . . with twice the nicotine of regular brands. “Little Joneser” in plain sugar and “Chem Fatal” in spearmint.
There is no end to the imagination when people who have no moral or ethical compunctions set their minds and expend the time to come up with products and services of dubious legitimate value, as long as there is a buck to be made. Obviously R.J. Renolds and Gamucci are all Republicans.
plaintiffs’ lawyers are drooling…
I have tried a variation of this electronic cigarette, Proffesor. The dynamics are the same, with teh user taking a drag on teh plastic cig and teh mint flavored water vapor containing nicotine is released. It is really cool. For the record, they do not taste or smell like real tobbacco, just a nice minty flavor, very light and inoffensive. I cannot see any reason to ban this type of cigarette inside unless perhaps teh nicotine is an issue.
I have used one of these for a long time and while it has not helped me quit.. it has made my my health better and lungs clearer… they dont deserve all the bad press they have had recently