SMOKE ANYWHERE

So I was driving back to the Ridge from Williamsburg today and passed a billboard for

Smokeanywhere.com.

Fascinated by the billboard, when I got home I went immediately to the website. It seems Smoke Anywhere is an electronic cigarette that truly let's me smoke anywhere. What's the 411 about these revolutionary electronic cigarettes? This is from their website -

Electronic Cigarette - defined by Wikipedia, as an e-cig, ecig, nicstic, electronic cigarette or electric cigarette which is has newly been termed as a mechatronic version of a cigarette. The New ECig – looks, feels and tastes like regular cigarettes and is available in a range of colors, nicotine strengths & flavors. What makes Electronic Cigarettes different from traditional smoking is the fact that they contain no tar, no harmful chemicals, no cancer causing agents and can be legally smoked in places where cigarette smoking is prohibited.

Fancy italics and bold mine.

Well, if it's defined by Wikipedia then it must be credible.

And contains no harmful chemicals and no cancer causing agents. Funny, I thought it mentioned nicotine. Hold on, let me read a bit more on their site. Oh okay, here are the ingredients -

Contains only water, propylene glycol, nicotine, a scent that emulates real cigarette flavor and a membrane to suspend the ingredients.

Nicotine? Why, I thought nicotine was bad. Let me read some more.

Nicotine itself is not believed to have toxicological effects, offers some therapeutic uses.

Wow. Who knew? Nicotine is safe. Hooray! Let me just cross reference with those dolts over at the American Heart Association.

Nicotine is an addictive drug. It causes changes in the brain that make people want to use it more and more. In addition, addictive drugs cause unpleasant withdrawal symptoms. Nicotine addiction has historically been one of the hardest addictions to break.

That doesn't sound right.

The 1988 Surgeon General's Report, "Nicotine Addiction," concluded ~

• Cigarettes and other forms of tobacco are addicting.
• Nicotine is the drug that causes addiction.

Oh what does the Surgeon General know!? What other pleasures can I get from Nicotine, which is not believed to have toxicological effects.

• Nicotine causes a short-term increase in blood pressure.
• It also causes the arteries to narrow.
• The smoke includes carbon monoxide, which reduces the amount of oxygen the blood can carry.

Pish-posh. For the sake of argument, let's say nicotine is addictive. What do those idiots at the AHA say about withdrawal symptoms ~

• irritability
• impatience
• hostility
• anxiety
• depressed mood
• difficulty concentrating
• restlessness
• decreased heart rate
• increased appetite or weight gain

Fiction!

Nicotine is not harmful. It says so on Smokeanywhere.com. So go ahead. Light up an electronic cigarette.