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  SILICON CHIP www.siliconchip.com.au Publisher & Editor-in-Chief Leo Simpson, B.Bus., FAICD Production Manager Greg Swain, B.Sc. (Hons.) Technical Editor John Clarke, B.E.(Elec.) Technical Staff Ross Tester Jim Rowe, B.A., B.Sc Nicholas Vinen Photography Ross Tester Reader Services Ann Morris Advertising Enquiries Glyn Smith Phone (02) 9939 3295 Mobile 0431 792 293 glyn<at>siliconchip.com.au Regular Contributors Brendan Akhurst Rodney Champness, VK3UG Kevin Poulter Stan Swan Dave Thompson SILICON CHIP is published 12 times a year by Silicon Chip Publications Pty Ltd. ACN 003 205 490. ABN 49 003 205 490. All material is copyright ©. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written consent of the publisher. Printing: Hannanprint, Noble Park, Victoria. Distribution: Network Distribution Company. Subscription rates: $105.00 per year in Australia. For overseas rates, see our website or the subscriptions page in this issue. Editorial office: Unit 1, 234 Harbord Rd, Brookvale, NSW 2100. Postal address: PO Box 139, Collaroy Beach, NSW 2097. Phone (02) 9939 3295. Fax (02) 9939 2648. E-mail: silicon<at>siliconchip.com.au ISSN 1030-2662 Recommended and maximum price only. 2  Silicon Chip Publisher’s Letter E-cigarettes – a new way for smokers to poison themselves If you’re not a smoker or seldom have to put up with “second-hand smoke” from nicotine addicts, you may not be aware of the recent development of “e-cigarettes”. While the name suggests these are an electronically controlled cigarette, the reality is somewhat more prosaic in that they essentially contain a battery and a small heating element to vaporise a liquid mixture containing nicotine. Their supposed advantage is that they do not involve the inhaling of tars and the other noxious combustion products of a conventional tobacco cigarette. Now the reason I am writing about them at all is that while they were only introduced a few years ago, their worldwide sales are already into the hundreds of millions a year, so much so that the big tobacco companies such as Philip Morris are contemplating getting into the market themselves. If tobacco companies see them as a worthwhile product that’s a fair indication that they’re not! I must say that I loathe anything to do with tobacco and smoking and I cannot see any advantage in people smoking e-cigarettes instead. I have already seen enough of them being used to conclude that cigarette smokers who change over to e-cigarettes are clearly deluded into thinking that they are better off. There is no medical evidence, so far, to suggest that there is any benefit and they apparently offer no advantage in helping people to stop smoking. In fact, tobacco smokers may smoke e-cigarettes even more, in the mistaken belief that they are not as harmful. Worse, while those same smokers may previously have gone outdoors to “have a fag” they often now smoke e-cigarettes indoors. So people who used to be exposed to “second-hand smoke” are now being exposed to second-hand “vapour”, as it is euphemistically called. “Second-hand poison” would be a better description. Make no mistake; nicotine is a deadly poison; more deadly than arsenic or strychnine, in fact. And while it is bad enough for adults to be exposed to second-hand vapour (nicotine) from an e-cigarette, I have seen them smoked when children are close by. These days that should be regarded as reprehensible behaviour. More teenagers are smoking e-cigarettes and apparently already young people in the USA are being taken to hospital with nicotine poisoning. Public authorities in the USA and Europe are already recognising the hazards of e-cigarettes and they are being banned from public spaces. I hope that happens soon in Australia. Some people who smoke e-cigarettes clearly see themselves as trend setters. I see them as severely deluded. After all, taking LSD was once regarded as trendy by celebrities; most of them are now dead. Just because a new product has the prefix “e” does not make it good or desirable. “email” may be good; e-cigarettes are not. I can see only one advantage for e-cigarettes and that is possibly for people suffering from mental illness who frequently are heavy smokers. This is because, particularly in the case of those suffering from schizophrenia, cigarettes can moderate the symptoms. For these unfortunate people, e-cigarettes may be an advantage in reducing nicotine stains on their fingers, tooth discolouration and decay and so on. If that turns out to be valid, it is still a pretty poor recommendation. If you know someone who has taken up e-cigarettes, there are two things you can do. First tell them that they are acting stupidly and if they persist, give them a wide berth. Leo Simpson siliconchip.com.au