Are E-Cigarettes a Dream Come True for Smokers?

Photo from observer.com, New York Observer

A new study has just shown that one major argument in favor of e-cigarettes, the fact that they can help smokers quit, isn't true. Of course this isn't the definitive answer to all of the questions and debates about e-cigarettes, but it does show a step in the right direction.

I'd like to tell you my thoughts about e-cigarettes, but unfortunately, I don't have enough information to make a decision. And that's the problem--more research is needed. Like NOW.

Until we get all of the information, we will continue to have e-cig companies make arguments like this: 

“Nicotine has similar qualities as caffeine,” says Ray Story, head of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, an industry group. “The nicotine itself is not a deadly product.… If this product is sold within the parameters of what we feel is a responsible product, this product is basically harmless.”
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/is-nicotine-really-any-different-than-caffeine-20130620

I would love to believe that, but I'm a skeptic. It could also turn out that vaping is really dangerous: 

In 2009, the Food and Drug Administration studied two of the brands on the market and found diethylene glycol, a toxic chemical present in antifreeze, in one sample and nitrosamines, which are among the worst-known carcinogens, in others.
http://www.nationaljournal.com/magazine/is-nicotine-really-any-different-than-caffeine-20130620

I would hate to think that I'm consuming something as innocuous as coffee when really I'm consuming dangerous carcinogens. That's not any better than smoking.

But Ray Story (of the Tobacco Vapor Electronic Cigarette Association, see above) has a point. The actual drugs of nicotine and caffeine are similar, and caffeine isn't regulated. As long as the other additives in the liquid aren't dangerous, it should be regulated as much as energy drinks. 

Again, there are still questions about the safety of energy drinks. According to CNN, What's in your energy drink?, caffeine is not a regulated drug, so the caffeine counts on those energy drinks are often inaccurate.

Personally, I'm in favor of less government regulation. I love that the government protects us by requiring companies to label what is in their products, and I think that part needs to continue and even expand to include e-cigarette liquids and accurate caffeine counts. But I think Americans should be able to choose what they want to risk putting into their bodies. And in order to make that decision, we need to know what is in the products available to us.