Whether a smoker or not, you probably first call to mind negative associations; addiction, nicotine, cancer. You’re trying to quit or you know somebody who is.  Today, smoking cessation is a billion dollar  market.

If you have encountered e-cigarettes you would be forgiven  perhaps for mistaking them for an aid in smoking cessation. That may be partly true since many people switch to get away from smoke but not from nicotine.

But simply associating these new electronic drug delivery devices with rolled tobacco stocks is a vast underestimation of both the history of smoking and the potential for “vaping” as it is beginning to be called.

The practice of smoking tobacco spread extensively after Columbus encountered the native american practice and brought it back to europe. Worldwide smoking continued to increase and grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th century.

One has only to watch an episode of Mad Men to be reminded how pervasive smoking became in American culture, in movies and advertising. Tobacco is big business and just the taxes from cigarette sales bring in over $17 billion for state and local governments.

Scientific research into the health effects of smoking emerged in the later half of the 20th century and by the mid 2000s, countries all around the world began to ban the practice in public spaces.

The systematic banning of smoking and shaming of smokers amounts to a form of prohibition for a practice that had found its way into every culture around the world. It is not easy to halt such an embedded practice, but the negative health impacts to society are undeniable. The CDC estimates that in the early 2000’s one in five deaths in the us were attributable to smoking.

Why is smoking such a resilient practice in the face of such negative consequences? The physical addition of nicotine is certainly a major component. Extensive marketing campaigns over decades have also added a psychological and cultural element.

But what about smoking itself? Perhaps simply the practice of taking a break, going outside and breathing slowly in and out would help reduce stress to some degree even without nicotine. In an increasingly connected world where it seems no one ever takes a moment by themselves without plugging into a smart phone or ear buds, I still see smokers standing by themselves at least with the appearance of contemplation.

Smoking need not be a solitary endeavor though, and indeed smoking is one of the few excuses that we have any more to walk up to a stranger as strike up a conversation. The spark can be a lighter or a request to bum a cigarette, a desperate favor that it seems all smokers can relate to. This instant kinship between strangers is rapidly vanishing from the world.

Is there some way to harness the benefits of this social and cultural practice without many of the negative side effects? Enter the e-cig.

The current devices are simple, battery, nicotine solution and vaporizer. Add an LED for some flare if you want. The carcinogens and chemicals that come from burning tobacco are gone. Nicotine is still addictive, and the effects of inhaling the vapor are still not known. More study is required to understand how potentially increased nicotine consumption might affect vapors, but it is hard to imagine that it could be worse than smoking. Similarly, the second hand effects, though not conclusively studied, are likely less hazardous than smoking.

The e-cig is poised to continue the cultural momentum established by the traditional cigarette while mitigating some of the health stigma, but this may only be the beginning.

Tobacco is not the only thing you can roll and smoke, so why would nicotine be the only thing that you would solubilize and vaporize? Recall that this is a drug delivery device, so pick your drug. Inhalable forms of caffeine have already hit the market. The aero shot comes in powder form rather than vapor, but speak to any early adopter of the caffeine shots and I bet they would be willing to try a liquid form. Indeed liquid caffeine is already available online. So are you ready to have your coffee and cigarettes all in one?

The cigarette format may not work for just any drug though. A vaporized form of alcohol consumption called alcohol without liquid AWOL was introduced in 2004 and promptly banned in 22 states. A thermally driven vaportini is now on sale, though.

Without getting into a debate over nebulizers, atomizers and vaporizers it is clear that a cigarette sized device would hardly provide much of a buzz.

Running down the list of popular drugs, nicotine, caffeine and alcohol are just the tame ones. Like any new technology there will inevitably be a struggle to avoid harmful uses. For example, the same technology may be used with liquid THC. Stoners are already used to putting pot in all sorts of ingestible formats, the oils in weed though would take more energy to vaporize and may have issues with residue. But might there emerge inhalator forms of hard drugs, cocaine, heroine, ecstasy?

The really scary part of this equation is that it will be very difficult to tell the difference visually between somebody puffing on a low nicotine blend, and a heart attack cocktail.

But there may be a benign embodiment. For each of the hard core drugs, there may be some herbal equivalents. Ginkgo, omega threes? Green tea extract?

Who knows what the future holds. Imagine a future where Aderrall or attention enhancing drugs become more commonplace. A vaporizing inhaler might provide an easier mechanism to meter self regulate dosing. Talk is already spreading of the oxytocin social molecule.  However it breaks down when heated. Perhaps the packs will come frozen and melt before inhalation.

At the very least, if there is no creativity in the content of the vaporized liquid, there will certainly be creativity in the design of the device. Cigarettes are mass produced disposable device. Their shape is dictated by the manufacturing process and constraints on the behavior of fire and thermal fluids.

But just make the devices non-disposable and watch the canvas that emerges for expression. Pipes are some of the most magnificent pieces of art, with a seemingly unlimited variety.

While I certainly cannot predict what will become popular, I can guarantee that the vaping population will not be constrained to the vestigial bonds of a thin cylinder. Consider that the only requirements for an e-cig are that it have a chamber for a battery, fluid reservoir, and a connection to a mouth piece.

With the rise of 3D printing, it will not be long before computer designs that fit standard cartridge and battery sizes will proliferate.

So a year from now when you see a teenager walking down the street puffing on the tail of a red plastic dragon whose eyes glow red with each drag, you will already be wondering what dragon is being chased.

Be prepared for them to ask you if they can “spark up” a new form of request to fast charge their battery off of your solar backpack.

Image via Wikipedia