|
McAfee said the motivations behind e-cigarette use remain unclear. For example, a former smoker could be experimenting with them as a new nicotine delivery system, or could have used an electronic cigarette to quit smoking regular cigarettes. Current smokers might be using e-cigs in places where tobacco smoking isn't allowed. More than 45 million Americans smoke cigarettes, and about half of smokers try to quit each year. First marketed overseas in 2002, e-cigarettes didn't become easily available in the U.S. until late 2006. Now, the industry has grown from the thousands of users in 2006 to several million worldwide. Analysts estimate sales could double to $1 billion in 2013. Some companies have even started running TV commercials. Devotees tout e-cigs as a way to break addiction to real cigarettes. They insist the devices address both the nicotine addiction and the behavioral aspects of smoking
-- the holding of the cigarette, the puffing and exhaling something that looks like smoke
-- without the more than 4,000 chemicals found in cigarettes. "The bottom line is ... the impact of e-cigarettes on public health remains uncertain," McAfee said.
[Associated
Press;
Copyright 2013 The Associated
Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries
Community |
Perspectives
|
Law & Courts |
Leisure Time
|
Spiritual Life |
Health & Fitness |
Teen Scene
Calendar
|
Letters to the Editor