I have a recently chain-smoking friend who started ‘vaping’ (i.e., using electronic cigarettes) in November or so in an effort to save himself some money and ween himself off the smokes. I’ve been out with him twice–once in a coffee shop and once in a restaurant–when he’s pulled out the thing and taken a puff on it and put it away, saving himself the aggravation of a nic-fit and me the trouble of cutting our conversation short to either move outside for its continuation or head our separate ways. It worked well for both of us, and what came out of his mouth when he exhaled was basically like the stuff that comes out of a fog machine at concerts. No big deal. And no one at either place we were at, as far as I could tell, thought anything of it (probably because they didn’t notice).
We have “Tobacco Free Campuses,” and so any and all smoking is prohibited. But e-cigarettes don’t have tobacco, and so seem to fall outside the ban. Apparently the Mayor is opposed to them, so I expect a ban to come down the line post-haste (any bets on whether one shows up on Friday’s Board agenda?) but I don’t think it has happened yet.
So…what will you do if and when you have a student pull out an e-cig and take a pull? What should you do? Personally, I’m inclined to shrug and treat it the way I treat a lollipop, diet soda or bag of chips–as long as it isn’t a distraction I have no problem with it. As far as I know, it isn’t banned.
Thoughts?
The Harold Lounge 