By TCRN Staff
Do you remember when smoking cigarettes were considered fashionable and even trendy? Just about everyone you could think of was smoking — the politicians, the movie stars, heck, probably your biggest idols could be found with a cigarette in their mouth.
Smoking today has definitely lost some of its cool. In fact, smokers are more often than not looked down upon for their filthy habit.
Perhaps, one of the biggest reasons for this change is the fact that people are more aware of the dangers of smoking. For instance, if you knew that second-hand smoke threatened the health of your family, would you have smoked around your wife and kids?
The good news is that thanks to new technologies, people now can have the best of both worlds with e-cigarettes.
These nifty devices deliver nicotine with flavorings and other chemicals to users in a vapor instead of smoke.
Smoke Smell
Smoking indoors has largely been banned in public places the world over. This is to protect nonsmokers from second-hand smoke. That smell of cigarette smoke that permeates everything, well it is almost as bad for you as taking a drag yourself. It also gets in your clothes, hair, and furniture, and doesn’t really come out.
E-cigarettes virtually eliminate these nasty problems. Because they don’t burn like a traditional cigarette, they are virtually odorless and produce a small burst of vapor.
Cigarette Butts Everywhere
Another unattractive thing about cigarettes is the butts. Most smokers just randomly throw these butts wherever they feel like when they are done smoking.
“Cigarette butts (CBs) are the most common type of litter on earth, with an estimated 4.5 trillion discarded annually. Apart from being unsightly, CBs pose a serious threat to living organisms and ecosystem health when discarded in the environment because they are toxic to microbes, insects, fish and mammals,” said Giuliano Bonanomi in a recent PLoS-One scientific article.
No More Cigarette Commercials
When cigarettes first came out on the market decades ago, TV and magazine ads drowned us with sexy depictions of smokers. Remember the iconic Marlboro Man and the Camel strolling down the street with a butt. Of course, these ads did a good job of attracting new smokers, but today you would be hard-pressed to find such an ad. Maybe it’s because tobacco companies think their brand is already so well established, or it’s because smoking has lost the same appeal that it once had.
Many countries actually ban tobacco advertising. Costa Rica has taken an extra step to graphically depict diseases associated with smoking on cigarette packages – the images of lung disease, cancer, and others can churn your stomach.
Costa Rica Smoke-Free
On February 27, 2012, a smoke-free measure passed its second and final vote in the Costa Rica legislature and was signed into law by President Laura Chinchilla on March 22, 2012.
The law prohibits smoking in workplaces, restaurants, bars, public buildings, bus and taxi terminals.
Click here to learn more about health and other information on e-cigarrettes.