E-Cigarettes Light Up Controversy Among Employers

Mike Abcarian wrote an article for DallasHR on April 8, 2014. 

First marketed internationally in 2002, battery-powered e-cigarettes are exploding stateside and may soon shake up many Texas employers who need to decide whether or not to allow e-cigarettes in the workplace, Michael wrote.

Sales in the United States of the more than 200 types of e-cigarettes currently available are estimated at more than $200 million annually. In a study released last year, The Center for Disease Control and Prevention noted that one out of every five adult smokers in the United States has tried e-cigarettes, up from one in 10 in 2012.

Part of the problem for employers is that e-cigarettes suffer from an identity crisis, he explained. They have not yet been officially classified by regulatory bodies as traditional cigarettes, nor is their use currently considered “smoking.” Unlike traditional cigarettes, which contain harmful levels of carcinogens that emit a lingering cloud of fumes, e-cigarettes are odorless. Most do not work by combusting tobacco, but instead, rely on a heating element to vaporize a liquid cocktail that includes a concentration of nicotine.

Read the full article here.