The Increasing Popularity of Electronic Cigarettes
The reality that the ecigarette has witnessed an impressive surge in public interest over the last couple of years is in no way a secret. The variety of factors for the increased popularity of this fairly new technological development is composed of everything from their clear potential inexpensiveness as opposed to their old-fashioned tobacco-burning cousins to the highly publicized reduced toxicity of the vapor as compared to the infamously toxin-rich smoke produced when tobacco is burned.
It must be noted, on the other hand, that the popularity of ecigarettes is due greatly to their heightened exposure in the media; as well as the introduction of their frequent use during high-class gatherings and also by well-known personalities. Perhaps most remarkable of these is Katherine Heigl, who caught the public's attention by rather noticeably using an ecigarette and remarking on their safety throughout her guesting on David Letterman’s Late Night Show in September 2010.
In the course of the program, Heigl said as she was sharing the ecigarette with Letterman, “You blow out water vapor so you're not harming anyone around you and you're not harming yourself. I'm essentially humidifying the space.” Heigl’s statement has since turned into what is probably the most frequently used justifications by companies and consumers for encouraging using the product.
Celebrities, in spite of this, had already started using ecigarettes way before Heigl’s ecigarette-sharing Late Night Show interview. Leonardo DiCaprio, for instance, had been photographed puffing an ecigarette as he was biking around Manhattan in March 2009 - an event that caused some debate about the actor’s extremely open ecigarette smoking behavior up until preconceptions about the device were laid to rest with Heigl’s comments.
Ever since that time, a growing number of movie personalities were spotted using ecigarettes publicly, plenty of whom swear by their convenience over regular cigarettes particularly when going to gatherings, since the vapor produced by the device is not considered unpleasant and users don't have to step outdoors to get a smoke. Socialites and fashion models including Paris Hilton and Kate Moss were spotted using ecigarettes during these kinds of gatherings.
Ecigarettes have in addition showed up on no less than one big Hollywood film. The motion picture The Tourist had scenes where Johnny Depp was smoking an ecigarette, one scene was also taken aboard a train - a privilege that sometimes is given to ecigarette users in the real world, since minimal or completely no laws presently exist limiting their use in public.
It isn't difficult to imagine that the popularity of ecigarettes will continue to soar, as they become more and more widely accepted in many different social spheres. Of course, popular media has been a major factor for their increased popularity, but as they become popular in people's homes as well, it isn't far-fetched to think that they may one day replace the traditional cigarette completely. If this all holds true then the future looks bright for all of us - a so much less pollution due to cigarette smoke and a world were children are safe from secondhand smoke.
