They're commonly called e-cigs: electronic cigarettes that deliver a nicotine vapor to the user and the sensation of smoking without the smoke.


Lawmakers around the country have adopted a flurry of measures approving bans on the use of the devices in public places where smoking is already prohibited.

City councils in Richmond and Los Angeles last week approved bans on e-cigs in most public places.

The reasons cited for bans have to do with unknown health effects and the impact of tobacco use on children. But it seems that the underlying objection is that e-cigs mimic - and perhaps promote - the frowned-upon act of cigarette smoking.

Critics warn that e-cigs are a path for children to experiment with cigarettes.

Were any of these critics ever teenagers?

Because any teen knows that getting their hands on a cigarette - a real cigarette - isn't all that difficult. They can be found in the pocket of a family friend, a mother's purse or at any friendly neighborhood money-hungry convenience store.

Historically, the gateway argument has been used to dismiss proposals to legalize marijuana, but that ship has obviously sailed.


So Richmond is raising red flags about smokeless cigarettes while stamping the seal of approval on marijuana dispensaries.

Michelle Clevenger has a theory about why local governments are cracking down on e-cigs.

Clevenger last month opened Refined Deliverance, a shop on Oakland's Lakeshore Avenue that caters to the smokeless e-cig crowd. She describes her customers as smokers in their 40s, 50s and 60s who are looking for an alternative to cigarettes or already using e-cigs.

E-cigs, she said, helped her quit smoking. Using an e-cig is commonly referred to as "vaping," not "smoking."

Her most popular items are the higher-end vapor pens that range from $40 to $80. Nicotine cartridges cost $20 to $30 and are a cheaper alternative to cigarettes. A pack-a-day smoker would use a large 12-oz cartridge in about three weeks, she says. For occasional users, e-cigs made for one-time use can be purchased in many places cigarettes are sold.

She believes one of government's biggest concerns about the growing popularity of e-cigs is that for every smoker who quits cigarettes, the state and local governments stand to lose tax revenue.

So far, government has not found a way to levy more than sales tax on the e-cigs and replacement cartridges, but you can bet that will change.

That speaks volumes in a state that collected $905 million in tobacco taxes in 2011, according to U.S. Census figures compiled by the Urban Institute and the Brookings Institution's Tax Policy Center.
