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Electronic cigarettes allow students to side-step no smoking rules
By Tony Wittkowski on April 26, 2010 6:00 am / 10 comments
Ryan Prystash has gotten his nicotine fix a couple of times in the residence halls.
But not with regular cigarettes, chewing tobacco or cigars.
Instead, he smokes electronic cigarettes.
“I started about a month ago,” said Prystash, a New Baltimore freshman.
With the e-cig, there is no fire, tar, ash or carbon monoxide.
It’s about the same size as a regular cigarette, only with a few modifications.
The end where the cigarette is normally lit is where the battery is located. The part which is held by the smoker is the cartridge containing water laced with nicotine.
“The cartridges can be plugged into an outlet,” he said. “I even charged one of them from my laptop.”
Prystash said using the cigarettes inside a residence hall has caused some confusion.
“I was smoking in my room when an RA passed by,” Prystash said. “She started freaking out until I pulled it apart and showed her what it was.”
He said the RA then allowed him to continue smoking.
However, the popularity of the product does present an issue of how it conforms to the rules in no-smoking areas of campus.
“We have had no complaints yet,” said Shaun Holtgreive, associate director of Residence Life. “The FDA is still figuring out how to regulate them.”
Currently students can smoke e-cigs on campus without being held to the standards of regular cigarettes, he said.
“We don’t have enough info now,” Holtgreive said. “We’ll probably make a decision about them by next fall.”
The starter pack costs around $60, and comes with two batteries and six cartridges, which contain different flavors, Prystash said.
“It’s a good alternative for those trying to quit,” said Jonathan Grinter, a Farmington Hills freshman.
Grinter said he hasn’t received any complaints about his electronic smoking yet.
“I’ve smoked mine in class, the dorm and outside,” Grinter said. “They don’t smell and last longer than the real thing.”
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10 Comments
nice, glad to see more and more people are starting to use the e-cigarette. IT is most definitly taking off really fast since being introduced to North America.
nice, glad to see more and more people are starting to use the e-cigarette. IT is most definitly taking off really fast since being introduced to North America.
It isn't technically smoking so the bans don't apply.
I'm from California and I've been able to use my E-Cig on campus without any problems. I go to a UC so I'm not sure if they have any different rules than private campus' but I haven't had any issues. I've actually used two different ones. One was some cheap on I bought in a store kiosk and it stopped charging and was leaking nicotine all over my mouth. I decided to invest in one that seemed higher quality and I'm extremely satisfied. I got it from http://www.freedomsmokeless.com
Hopefully campus' don't start banning these too….
Its a good thing to note that electronic cigarettes may in fact come with a risk of some side effects like a sore throat, headache, dry mouth and bad after-taste. In the scheme of things, this seems like a small price to pay to finally be able to successfully quit smoking and to be able to avoid the dangerous risk of lung cancer to ourselves and others.
We recently went smoke free at work so I went with an e-cig. They didn't like it, but they haven't done any thing about it yet.They are concerned that if a tour (new clients) were to go through they may think I was smoking a real cigarette. I did go from two packs a day to less than one, so my doctor likes them.
After 35 years of smoking I've been smoke free for almost a year due to e-cigarettes. My doctor is thrilled and the American Association of Public Health Physicians recommends them to committed smokers. I'm sure that after all those years of smoking I've done harm to my body. If the college students today could be encouraged to switch, they could avoid the damage. Yes, quitting is best, but if you can't quit, try e-cigs they are a lot better. Bans simply don't work, you have to offer a real alternative.
I used e-cigarette but i won't allow my kids to use it until they reach the right age.
I used e-cigarette but i won't allow my kids to use it until they reach the right age.
Yes, Electronic Cigarette is only for elders. Under 18 children should not use electronic cigarette. Because it was not right age to use electronic cigarette.