Editor’s Note: This story corrects errors in the print version. Electronic cigarette use is authorized indoors in the city of Springfield following a May 2012 amendment to the city’s Smokefree Air Act. The print story cited outdated information from SpringfieldMo.gov.The Marlboro Man made it cool in the 1950s and everyone from housewives to movie stars took up the habit, but by the ‘70s the world was beginning to realize the health effects of cigarette smoke and its prevalence began to decline. In 1992, Missouri enacted the Indoor Clean Air Act, which prohibited indoor smoking – with exceptions – including workplaces. Now, 21 years later, employers are debating the topic once again, this time with a high-tech twist – electronic cigarettes.
The tobacco-less, battery-powered devices, aka e-cigarettes, heat a liquid-filled cartridge, known as e-juice, allowing the user to inhale the aerosol vapor. Unlike traditional tobacco cigarettes, the smoke emitted is an odorless water vapor, prompting some employers to once again allow indoor smoking.
“I’ve never had anyone try and smoke e-cigarettes in the office, but I wouldn’t be opposed to it happening because the smoke is harmless and wouldn’t bother the other workers,” said Jim Michels, owner of downtown Springfield’s Creative Foundry, a shared workspace with about 15 members. “I’ve not run across it much here in Springfield, but I’ve sat next to people in New York coffee shops who were doing it. It doesn’t seem like a big deal to me.”
In the workplace Human Resource Advantage LLC President Lynette Weatherford said a handful of local employers are taking steps to revise employee manuals and company policies.
“Most employers are treating e-cigs like tobacco,” she said. “While the devices emit vapor, not smoke, we still don’t know what’s in that vapor. It’s not FDA approved; there could still be carcinogens.”
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has yet to regulate e-cigarettes, but is permitted to do so under the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act of 2009. The organization was originally slated to release its finding by the end of October, but the federal government shutdown delayed the process. The European Union regulated the product similar to conventional cigarettes, with only the usual marketing, packaging, and 18-and-older age restrictions.
“Many employers feel even after FDA regulations are passed, allowing it in the workplace is taking a step backwards,” Weatherford said. “It opens a door, one many want to keep shut. We don’t know what’s coming down the pike, so it’s better to err on the side of caution.”
Most states, including Missouri, allow e-cig smoking indoors, and despite no FDA approval, Springfield City Council amended the city’s smoking ban in May 2012 to allow vaping.
Previously, the Springfield Smokefree Air Act of 2011, prohibited smoking in all enclosed places of employment and all enclosed public places through traditional and e-cigarettes.
However, large Springfield institutions, such as Missouri State University, have included e-cigs in its tobacco policy, prohibiting the use anywhere on campus.
In the Ozarks Known as “vaping,” local experts say the recreational activity is just beginning to catch on in the Ozarks. However, across the nation, it’s already spreading like wildfire.
According to the Centers for Disease Control, cigarettes were a nearly $300 billion U.S. industry in 2011. The Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association estimates four million Americans now use e-cigs and sales of the devices are expected to exceed $1 billion by the end of this year.
“Vaping is starting to catch on in Springfield,” said Jim Simmons, who opened Paradise Vapors a year ago. “We originally opened in a 900-square-foot location, moved into 1,600 square feet and just upgraded again to an 1,800-square-foot shop in Eastgate Plaza within our first year.”
A Springfield native, Simmons currently lives in Oklahoma, where he says electronic cigarette shops are on many street corners.
“There were no locations in Springfield when we opened. It was the best business move I made,” he said.
Selling more than 100 flavors of e-juice ranging from chocolate and grape to the most popular cinnamon and menthol, Simmons said a basic e-cig starter kit costs about $30 and up. As the vapor rises, so do sales at his shop.
“Every month, we eclipse the previous months sales,” he said. “We did about $400,000 in 2012, and during the last six months, I’d say we are up about 200 percent.”
Store manager and Simmons brother-in-law, Kirk Bass, said the majority of his customers come from Springfield call centers.
“People don’t want to talk about it, but lots of workers use it at their desks. It’s water vapor and nondetectible, so nobody ever notices,” he said. “I would think employers would be in favor – it cuts down on cigarette breaks and time away from the desk.”
Calls to the Springfield branches of T-Mobile U.S. Inc. and Teletech Holdings Inc. (Nasdaq: TTEC) were referred to company corporate offices. A spokesperson from each company emailed a statement noting e-cigs are only permitted in designated outside smoking areas.
The health factor Proponents of e-cigs say they are an effective way to stop smoking traditional cigarettes as users taper off their intake of nicotine.
“E-juice is sold at different nicotine levels, from 30 milligrams, which is considered very heavy, to 12 milligrams, the equivalent of a light, cigarette to zero nicotine,” retailer Simmons said. “I say about 70 percent of the battle to quit smoking is that hand to mouth habit. A patch won’t help that. E-cigs will.”
However, critics say the wide assortment of candy-flavored e-juice and low price point – about $7 a cartridge – is attracting teens to pick up the habit.
“Anything pina colada flavored is going to appeal to a teenager,” said Gail Ayres, Mercy nurse specialist and tobacco cessation counselor. “They advertise non-nicotine cartridges, but even so, once you start a habit, it is hard to break it.”
The CDC’s 2012 National Youth Tobacco Survey found 10 percent of high school students – or about 1.78 million – have tried vaping at some point, with one-third of these describing themselves as regular users.
Simmons said Missouri currently has no age regulations on purchasing e-cigarettes, but most retailers follow standard tobacco regulations. He said Paradise Vapors doesn’t sell to anyone under the age of 18.
Ayres said while the product could potentially help smokers kick the habit, without FDA regulation, she questions the safety of e-cigs.
“Right now, there is no oversight,” she said. “What other particulates are you breathing in? There is a lot of money to be made in that market.”
HR consultant Weatherford said for employers, there is no distinction between traditional and electronic cigarettes.
“There are still many uncertainties out there, but smoking is smoking,” she said.
This installment of Springfield Business Journal’s Architects & Engineers Project Report showcases 26 endeavors by area design and engineering professionals.
