Leo This weekend Leonardo DiCaprio was photographed by the web site justjared.com biking through Manhattan’s East Village not smoking a cigarette.

He was not smoking because he had a new electronic device in his mouth the may resemble a cigarette in that it looks like a cigarette, feels like a cigarette, glows like a cigarette and contains nicotine like a cigarette.

But he was certainly not smoking, and that’s because e-cigarettes don’t smoke. The new electronic smoking device (e-cig) was invented in China a few years ago, and now signs like this photo show that they are beginning to catch on in the United States.

According to Wikipedia.com:

“An electronic cigarette (or “e-cigarette”) is an alternative to smoked tobacco products, such as cigarettes, cigars, or pipes. It is a battery-powered device that provides inhaled doses of nicotine by delivering a vaporized propylene glycol/nicotine solution. In addition to nicotine delivery, this vapor also provides a flavor and physical sensation similar to that of inhaled tobacco smoke, while no tobacco, smoke, or combustion is actually involved in its operation.”

In other words, the e-cigarettes give you all of the potentially highly addictive qualities of nicotine, without the usual smoke or the need to burn tobacco. Users can adjust the amount of nicotine (from low to high) they take in as well as the flavor of the vaporized solution—perhaps cherry or chocolate is you e-cig thing.

E-CIGARETTE-ATOMIZING-R38651-1 So are they legal?

So far in the United States they remain completely unregulated, but that may be about to change.

According to the MercuryNews.com, “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration now seems poised to pull e-cigs from the market because the agency considers them “new drugs.” That means they need approval from the FDA, which requires companies to back up their claims with scientific data.

“It is illegal to sell or market them, and the FDA is looking into this,” said Rita Chappelle, an agency spokeswoman.

In the United States some companies are selling the e-cigs as a way to help smokes quite smoking.

“I understand why people use the nicotine replacement aids,” said Serena Chen, regional tobacco policy director of the American Lung Association in California. ”But I don’t understand why people want to pretend that they’re smoking.”

The levels of nicotine can be adjusted, from “high” to no nicotine at all. That, e-cig supporters say, allows smokers to wean themselves from nicotine, which most doctors say is highly addictive but not, as far as they know, a carcinogen.

Wikipedia goes on to say:

“Toxicological studies of the electronic cigarettes have been conducted, with some reporting that electronic cigarettes are less harmful than traditional tobacco cigarettes.In September 2008, the World Health Organization issued a release proclaiming that it does not consider the electronic cigarette to be a legitimate smoking cessation aid, stating that to its knowledge, “no rigorous, peer-reviewed studies have been conducted showing that the electronic cigarette is a safe and effective nicotine replacement therapy.”

So the jury is still out on the health effects of e-cigerettes. But from an endurance athlete’s point of view it is hard to image that the use of new e-cig can be anything but detrimental to both professional and amateur athlete’s performance. It certainly has the potential to be a new performance decreasing drug.

Click HERE for more photos of Leonardo DiCaprio not smoking.

Posted on Tuesday, March 10, 2009 in Health, Nutrition & Wellness | Permalink

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