Electronic cigarettes are trending in Gainesville.
One company, The Grab Bag Vapor Co., located on 407 NE 23rd Ave., specializes in making the battery-operated alternative to the traditional cigarette by using a heating element to change liquids containing nicotine into vapor, which can be inhaled like a regular cigarette.
Company owner Greg Geisecke said most of its customers are middle-aged Alachua County residents who buy them for health reasons. But the number of college students using the products is growing as well.
Paul Doering, a retired UF College of Pharmacy professor, said use of e-cigarettes comes with benefits and hindrances. They’re less harmful than cigarettes, but most of the active ingredients are nicotine-based, which makes them addictive.
But Doering said, if given the choice, e-cigarettes could be a reasonable alternative to cigarettes.
“They’re not 100 percent safe,” he said. “How unsafe they are, I think time will only tell.”
Syraj Syed, tobacco education coordinator at the UF Area Health Education Centers program, said there haven’t been enough tests on electronic cigarettes to determine where the program stands on the issue.
Despite some of the negativity surrounding this product, the Grab Bag Vapor Co. marketing assistant Joshua Galarneau said the health benefits outweigh the risks.
“I was a pack-a-day smoker, and then I found this,” he said. “The health benefits I’ve seen are just absurd, and that’s why I have such a passion for this now.”
As for the future of e-cigarettes, Geisecke said he thinks more people will turn to them, especially young adults.
“College students seem to realize that these are healthier for you than actual cigarettes,” he said. “They’re also not smelling like an ashtray anymore.”
[A version of this story ran on page 8 on 2/17/2014 under the headline "Local experts debate on pros, cons of electronic cigarettes"]
