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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