Do smoking bans apply to e-cigarettes?

[politicat]

16. Oh, hell. Yippee. Another battle.

I have allergy-related asthma that was very poorly controlled half of the year. I'm allergic to juniper, conifer, ragweed and hemp, so indeed, my immune system pretty much lives in overdrive. Half the year -- no walking outdoors, no biking, no picnics in the park. Sometimes car to grocery store was too much, and forget public transit or non-motorized commuting. I could move to Antarctica or the Australian Outback...

Regularly inhalers were causing massive blood pressure swings because we couldn't control dosage well enough, so my doc prescribed unpressurized liquid albuterol and salmeterol, with the idea of using it sublingually by the drop. That worked better, but not great. Then I saw the vaporizer hardware and I figured my worst case scenario was I'd need to pay out of pocket for a month of drugs and the hardware. As an experiment, it was cheap. I was inspired by insulin pumps which deliver a consistent low level dose, and wanted something similar.

That worked. I haven't had an asthma attack in three years. I can control my dosage down to the microgram and maintain consistent blood levels. I take small hits via vaporizer throughout the day, getting regular, small doses. If I need to forestall an attack, I can, by hitting a second vaporizer of high dose albuterol three times. It's easier to use than a puffer, too. (Natural, deep breathing rather than the the sudden inhale a puffer requires, which is a PITA when the lungs are on strike.) I can run. I can bike. I like spring for the first time in my life. (Also, the ability to flavor my meds is nice, and the vaporizer is less obtrusive and easier to carry than a puffer.) I'm trying now to get somebody interested in a larger scale study (because sample size=1 is anecdote, not data).

Vaporizers are my lifeline. I wish that every nicotine user would drop the e-cigarette terminology and use vaporizer and vaper instead because the anti-smoking zealots only hear the cigarette part.

I've seen the hardest of the hard-core smokers kick the habit thanks to these -- schizophrenics have successfully quit. (80+% of schizophrenics have a 1+ pack a day habit that seems to be a functional self-regulated medication. Nicotine and the MAOIs in cigarette smoke seem to serve as neural regulators. For a schizophrenic to quit smoking, compare it to a diabetic going off insulin.) I wish the anti-smoking lobby would listen to those of us who are actually doing research into these devices. If they were smart, they'd be backing these devices and handing them out.

But no, because Puritan-blah-blah-all-about-me-shit-I-don't-like-la-la-la-not-listening!

Okay, sleeves rolled up, jaw set. Point me at the politicians.