Some US areas considering ban on e-cigs

E-cigarettes are battery-powered and metal devices that heat the nicotine solution in the in a cartridge. This creates vapors for user inhalation. Some are even designed to look like a normal cigarette with the tip made with a tiny light that glows.

Designed to simulate the act of tobacco smoking, they have now become a subject of legal and social debate.

No clear study on secondhand smoking
The smoke form e-cigarettes mostly contain water vapours, but the risk of secondhand smoking, if any, is unclear.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has stated that in certain cases toxins as well as carcinogenic agents were found.

The FDA also pointed out an absence of study related to secondhand smoking.

Public health experts state that the observed carcinogenic level was comparable to those found in nicotine replacement therapy like inhalers as the nicotine present in those products is obtained from tobacco.

E-cigarettes break addiction: users
According to reports, regular users of e-cigarettes prefer them over the real ones as they believe it helps them break the addiction. They emphasized the absence of over 4,000 chemicals found in normal cigarettes.

Elaine Keller, vice president of Consumer Advocates for Smoke-free Alternatives Association, a U.S. based non-profit organization, said, "The whole purpose of a smoking ban is to protect people from secondhand smoke, and there isn't any smoke from an electronic cigarette.

"Your nose will let you know whether somebody is smoking or not. ... and your eyes will tell you, too, as soon as you get close enough."

The FDA has already declared plans to put e-cigarettes under tobacco products instead of drug-delivery devices.