At the moment I am slightly alarmed. I am alarmed because recently electronic cigarettes have been under attack by the anti-smoking movement. I have been researching e-cigarettes for the last year and watched them gain wider attention and use, but this push to ban their use in public spaces and set other restrictions has taken off like a bat out of hell.

Electronic cigarettes are a fairly new phenomenon in the United States. Basically they are battery-operated devices that heat up liquid so that users can inhale the vapor. The liquid used usually contains nicotine, although it doesn’t have to, and comes in a massive array of flavors. Some e-cigarettes are designed to look like traditional cigarettes while others bear no resemblance.

Traditional cigarettes are harmful to human health and that is a fact. Second-hand smoke is also harmful. It makes sense to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces because people have the right not to be harmed by the choices of others. The problem is that there are no studies which show that e-cigarettes have any negative second-hand affects. In fact, the latest study indicates that they really aren’t that bad for the people actually using them.

So why are these devices being attacked so fervently? Some of them do resemble cigarettes and that alone probably bothers anti-smoking activists. There is also the concern that young people might try them and consequently become addicted to nicotine. Restricting the sale of nicotine to minors is a good move, but to infringe upon the choices of adults who aren’t harming anyone is just plain ridiculous. This is the United States of America.

What makes this even more upsetting is the possibility that e-cigarettes are actually saving lives. While researching I found many forums online with comments posted by people who swear they could never have quit traditional cigarettes without e-cigarettes. According to the Center for Disease Control, more than 45 million Americans still smoke. About half of them will die from a smoking-related illness. If e-cigarettes can help reduce that number then it would be prudent not to write them off so quickly.

This issue reminds me of a similar situation in Europe. The European Union banned the sale of certain types of smokeless tobacco, including a Swedish variety dubbed “snus”. The Swedes threw a fit and the EU decided to allow the sale of snus only in Sweden. It sounds sort of funny that Sweden was so pissed off, but they get the last laugh: tobacco-related deaths in Sweden are the lowest in the EU. This is partly due to the fact that many Swedes stopped smoking in favor of using snus.

Much like e-cigarettes, all the evidence points to snus being virtually harmless compared to cigarettes. Perhaps it’s time we reviewed that evidence before deciding what’s best for our fellow humans. There may actually be lives at stake.