Why Are People Determined to Hate E-Cigarettes?

Some smokers hate smoking. But not Nick Green. "I loved being a smoker, celebrated it even," he writes in the Guardian. "I just assumed that I would smoke for the rest of my life and that it would eventually kill me." But then he tried electronic cigarettes, and they "have changed my life." Instantly and effortlessly he was able to quit using tobacco. He became an evangelist for them, making YouTube videos to spread the word. "People needed to know about this miracle device."

So he's perplexed by the backlash against "vaping," like the recent New York City effort to ban it in public. Opponents rely on "bad science" and specious arguments, like the idea that somehow e-cigarettes will lead to real cigarette use. "Politicians and the public simply can't believe that vaping isn't the next scourge of society." The simple fact is that this is "not about being 100% safe and harmless; it is about harm reduction." These devices can, and have, helped thousands quit smoking, writes Green. Click for his full column. (More e-cigarettes stories.)