I have a gripe that I need to get off of my chest today. Here it is: I hate those absolutely ridiculous E-Cigarettes. Yes, I understand….I get it. E-Cigarettes don’t have tobacco in them, so smokers are getting their nicotine in a less harmful way. It’s not that I don’t think they shouldn’t be allowed, but why haven’t there been regulations put on them yet? I guess the people who invented them didn’t have children, because really….what sort of message are my kid’s getting when they see people so leisurely smoking them in public places? It’s happened twice now, so let me explain.
The first time I saw or even heard of an E-Cigarette, my family and I were shopping at Costco. We were strolling down the aisles, and right in front of the Goldfish Crackers, a lady was pushing her cart and inhaling and puffing away. My daughter shrieked with surprise and unabashed disgust, “OMG! She’s smoking right in the middle of the store!!!” The woman looked at me and explained that it was an E-Cigarette. She wasn’t embarrassed and proudly pushed her cart past us like she was on a mission of acceptance.
The second time I saw an E-Cigarette, my son and I were eating lunch at Subway. An off-duty employee was sitting in the booth right next to us reading and smoking his E-Cigarette. My son, a little more shy in his delivery, whispered in my ear: ”Look Mommy! That guy is smoking!” A little more educated the second time around, I tried to explain to my son that it wasn’t really a cigarette. The story gets a little worse though. The smoker, started to wave at my son and play peek-a-boo with him. He began talking to us smoking away all the time.
So, here are my problems with this. First, I don’t believe we’ve heard everything we need to know about E-Cigarettes yet. Afterall, there was a time in our country where none of us knew the harmful affects of regular cigarettes either. It took time and scientific studies and research and, unfortunately, people dying in order to get the full picture. E-Cigarettes are controversial and even the World Health Organization just last month issued a statement that smoking is safer than using E-Cigarettes because cigarettes have filters. Who knows what long-term health issues they will cause?
Secondly, and to me this is the more important and immediate item for concern…..what message are we giving our kids when they see people acceptably smoking in public places. I can honestly say to all of you that my kids definitely cannot tell the difference between a real cigarette and an E-Cigarette. They just see someone smoking, and I hate the idea that E-cigarettes could possibly make smoking “cool” again like it used to be only a few years back. Believe me…I was one of the kids hanging in the woods behind my high school with the “cool crowd” smoking those stupid little Capri cigarettes thinking that I was so bad-ass. Over the years, cigarettes are less socially accepted, and I would hate for those awful cancer sticks to head into the lime light once more. E-Cigarettes still contain nicotine…..just not tobacco. They are not good for you…just not as bad for you.
I’m not saying that E-Cigarettes should be prohibited, but I would like to see some regulations put on them. It is unimaginable to me that it hasn’t happened already. My song of the day is 80′s hair band Motely Crue’s version of “Smokin’ in the Boy’s Room.” May this song be a reminder to all of us of how smoking was viewed only 30 years ago. Click HERE to check out the video and please remember what it was like, blog readers. We don’t want to go back to that time even if it is fun to listen to in song.