On its last legislative session day of 2013, the 20 outgoing city council members of New York City passed two dozen resolutions, including a ban on electronic cigarettes, reported the Houston Chronicle.  In addition to tracking federal dollars spent to repair Superstorm Sandy damages and banning Styrofoam containers, they also passed, by a vote of 43 to eight, a prohibition on using e-cigarettes where smoking is already banned.  Other states, including New Jersey, Arkansas, Utah, and North Dakota, have expanded their existing bans to include banning electronic cigarettes as well.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that electronic cigarettes, otherwise known as e-cigarettes, are battery-powered replacements for traditional cigarettes.  They provide doses of nicotine and other additives in an aerosol form, without smoke. In general, e-cigarette cartridges typically contain nicotine, ingredients necessary to produce aerosol, and flavorings such as fruit or chocolate.

According to WebMD, electronic cigarettes are purported to be safer because they do not contain the tar of traditional cigarettes.  However, health professionals are still concerned.  E-cigarettes may still contain carcinogens and it is not clear how nicotine without tar impacts health.  Currently, unless the electronic cigarette is being marketed for therapeutic purposes, it is unregulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  Research in this area is still developing, but there are potentially harmful ingredients in e-cigarette cartridges, such as irritants, genotoxins, and animal carcinogens.

Earlier this year, a study published in the Lancet evaluated the efficacy of electronic cigarettes for smoking cessation.  E-cigarettes are used to mitigate tobacco withdrawal and can be offered with nicotine.  Smokers hoping to quit have been using electronic cigarettes to help with the process, seemingly having an easier time than those who try to quit without easing off the addiction.  Researchers concluded that electronic cigarettes had a similar effect and result as nicotine patches.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports that 43.8 million people in the U.S., or 19 percent of adults, smoke cigarettes.  The CDC also reports that nicotine dependence is the most common form of chemical dependence in the U.S.  Smoking cigarettes is the leading cause of preventable deaths in the U.S., accounting for 20 percent of all deaths.  The CDC encourages smoking cessation because it reduces the risk for cancer, coronary heart disease, stroke, peripheral vascular disease, respiratory conditions, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and infertility.  Electronic cigarettes may prove useful in helping people quit smoking.