E-cigs wafting into workplace 25 years after smoking ban

Can you "vape" in your workplace? For many Americans, the answer is, increasingly, yes.

Thanks to electronic cigarettes – which emit potentially harmless water vapor rather than smoke – the 25-year ban on smoking in the workplace is getting a high-tech makeover.

According to Bloomberg, the increasing popularity of e-cigs is forcing companies to review their policies and many now allow "vaping" in the office. Notably, Kraft Foods Group Inc. (Nasdaq: KRFT) and health care giant Walgreen Co. (NYSE: WAG) allow managers to set the rules for when employees can and cannot vape while working, and smaller firms have already adopted a more laissez-faire attitude.

Bloomberg reports sales of e-cigs in the U.S. are expected to triple to $1.5 billion this year, according to Euromonitor International.

Many workers went on record with Bloomberg, saying they smoke in their offices between clients, in company break rooms or in the bathroom, noting, "nobody has ever complained because there is no smell."

Yet, many corporations still ban vaping as they wait to see if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration will regulate e-cigs as strictly as regular smokes.

Walgreen's biggest competitor, CVS Caremark Corp. (NYSE: CVS), currently bans regular and electronic cigarettes.

Read more from Bloomberg.