What if I never exhaled?
A look at vaping bans.
When my wife and I switched from cigarettes to vaping, she was concerned about how she would be perceived by others. She felt like she would stick out in a crowd, or look awkward. I ensured her that she would look less silly than someone killing themselves slowly with a cigarette. She quickly got over the social acceptance, but now she, myself, and millions of others, have to deal with another stigma of vaping, legal acceptance.
Vaping in public is becoming a concern among those of us choosing to not die from cigarettes. New rules, regulations and laws deciding where we can vape are starting to appear quicker than they ever did for traditional cigarettes. Vaping gives the illusion of smoking to all but the trained eye. A vaper can spot another vaper, but it’s not so easy for the average person. Disposable e-cigarettes are sized, and some even colored, to mimic a traditional cigarette, so it can be hard to spot the difference at a glance. Exhaled vapor, which dissipates very quickly, can still be hard to discern from smoke.
This has led to rules that are simply based on “it looks like smoking” so we’ll ban or prevent people from doing it.
What part of the act of vaping do non-vapers (and politicians) dislike so much that they feel the need to regulate it in such a way?
Let’s find out.
If you saw me standing in a crowd, holding something up to my mouth, then moving it away, would you mind?
What if it was a lollipop, would you mind?
What if it was an ice cream cone?
What if it was a bagel?
A smartphone?
Standing in a crowd, simply holding a personal vaporizer or e-cigarette doesn’t affect the people around you. When the button isn’t pressed, it’s just an inert piece of aluminum, plastic, stainless steel and glass doing nothing. During an inhale, it still doesn’t do anything that would harm or bother other people.
The exhale however is the point where modern technology mimics centuries old combustible tobacco products. That cloud, big or small, sweet or sour, is what impacts others both olfactorily, visually, and psychologically.
Is it the smell?
Cigarette smoke has always smelled offensive to non-smokers. People in general don’t like smelly things. People who wear excessive amounts of Axe Body Spray or perfumes assault the noses of people every day. People with bad breath are offensive, and we don’t need to discuss being in a confined space like an airplane or elevator with people who don’t groom correctly, or ate something for lunch that disagreed with them.
We don’t regulate any of that however, so why regulate vapor? People say the smell offends them. I say “smells like bullshit”. Vapor smell can range from baked goods, tropical fruits, your grandfathers pipe tobacco, to no smell at all. There are literally thousands of flavors available, so those claiming vapor simply smells bad, have probably never actually smelled vapor.
Is it the visual?
It looks like smoking, so those who make the rules think it makes people want to smoke, and it may make smokers think they can smoke in the same place. People think it’s harmful because they can see it, even though we spend our days walking through other visible gases that aren’t regulated. It’s not understood by the ignorant, so the best option is to just lump it in with smoke, because we do know that smoke of almost any form is bad for those around us, be it from a cigarette, a campfire, or a diesel engine. But it’s not smoke.
Is it psychological?
We regulate where people can smoke cigarettes due to secondhand smoke. Secondhand smoke has been proven to be harmful beyond a reasonable doubt.
But we didn’t regulate it because there was nicotine in the smoke, we did it because of the thousands of chemicals and carcinogens in it.
Vaping however hasn’t been tested as much, but it has been tested, and the results show it is far from harmful in secondhand form. Asthma inhalers have similar ingredients to the liquids used in vaping, and they have no limitations on their usage. Hospital air filtration systems use propylene glycol. Hotels pump flavored air through their lobbies and rooms so you remember them the next time you visit.
The trace amount of nicotine found in exhaled vapor is so extremely low, that a person worried about it should be even more worried about eating tomatoes and potatoes and other nightshade plants, which are the source of nicotine.
If a person is worried about the flavor components, or propylene glycol, or vegetable glycerin landing on their skin, they might consider not getting that flavor shot the next time they buy a coffee, as it contains the exact same ingredients, which are FDA approved, which is then consumed while steam rises from the coffee.
Now that we know why people may not like vaping, let’s find out what part of the act of vaping is actually regulated.
Holding, or having a vaping device on your person doesn’t do anything that could be deemed illegal.
Inhaling doesn’t do anything that could be deemed illegal either.
Exhaling vapor then, is where the problem lies.
What if I never exhaled?
What if the vapor wasn’t actually visible?
Would there still be a reason to ban or regulate where a person could vape?
There currently exists e-liquid that produces no visible vapor.
How will that be regulated?
Will simply holding a piece of metal with a battery be outlawed?
If a person consumes something in your vicinity, like drinking a hot cup of coffee, or eating a warm bagel, while performing the natural bodily functions of inhaling and exhaling, aren’t they too doing the same thing as vaping? Molecules are entering their body, and exiting their body, and they are sharing them with you if you are close enough.
Neil deGrasse Tyson has shown us how our sense of smell works on Cosmos. If you smell something, it has entered your body. The molecules of the substance you smell touch the receptors in your nose. Those molecules can be caffeine, or propylene glycol, or vegetable glycerin, or thousands of other elements that haven’t been studied. By standing near someone drinking coffee, if you smell it, they’re sharing some of it with you.
No one has ever bothered to stop and think about this, and study it, because we don’t see it, and it doesn’t look like something bad.
Regulations are now showing up everywhere. You can’t vape in Central Park, in New York City. 843 acres of outdoors, and you can’t vape there legally. You can still drink coffee there, you can still fart there, but you can’t vape.
Because it looks like smoking.
Vaping in New York City has also been banned indoors in every public building, tacked onto the Smoke-Free Air Act. Notice the word “smoke” in that title. Smoke, not vapor. This sets a dangerous precedent that other cities and states can follow, most of which already have indoor clean air policies and laws in place to prevent smoking.
There are many public places where smoking has been regulated or banned, where I feel vaping should follow suit, but those places are limited, and the regulation needs to be for reasons that aren’t because it looks like smoking, Places like movie theaters, schools, churches, hospitals, and libraries.
I didn’t like someone smoking while I was eating out 20 years ago, and I certainly wouldn’t like someone blowing clouds of banana cream menthol near me while I enjoy a good meal, so smoking and vaping limitations in restaurants have their place. However, it should still be left up to the owner of the property, as it’s their clientele, and their profit they stand to lose or gain.
The same can be said for drinking establishments, where drinking and smoking have gone hand in hand for over 500 years. A proprietor, not a politician, should be allowed to decide if people can vape in his private business establishment that is open to the public. If a person disagrees, they can certainly find somewhere else to buy a drink.
That is where the distinction needs to be made. Many public places are privately owned, and private property, and in that case, the owner should set the rules, not politicians. Vapers will seek out vape friendly establishments, and haters will go elsewhere if molecules offend them.
Vaping bans promote the misconception that vaping is smoking by being tacked onto existing anti-smoking regulation. This is done because it’s simple, and easy to explain to uneducated voters.
It’s not smoking though, it’s anti-smoking, and it’s saving my life, and the lives of millions. It’s just getting harder to find places to do it.
